Cal Basketball: Bears Limited to 45 Points in Loss to Utah
Cal's encouraging showing in a six-point loss to No. 24 Colorado on Thursday was negated by the Beas' performance on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
The Bears have to play a slow-down game to be competitive in the Pac-12 this season, but they need to score more than 45 points, which was all they managed in Utah's 60-45 victory over Cal.
And Cal was fortunate to reach 45 points since it had just 37 points with 3:39 remaining and Utah holding a safe lead.
The Bears might have an exuse, as they looked like team that was playing its second game in three days at altitude.
"We just played like a tired team," Cal coach Mark Fox said. "They were the aggressors and we didn't finish enough plays, and you have to score when you're on the road and we didn't do that tonight."
The scary thing is the 45 points were not a season low for the Bears, who were limited to 40 points in the loss to UCLA.
The bottom line is that Cal is now 0-10 away from Haas Pavilion, while Utah is 10-1 at home. Of course Cal's road record would not be such a focal point if the Bears did not have a surprisngly good 10-3 record at home. They have already shown they are better than they were last season and they are doing it with less talent.
"This team has struggled for a couple of years, and now we've promoted this story to the fact that we can't win on the road," Fox said. "You can't win on the road until you become a good team, and we're in the process of becoming a good team.
"Tonight we didn't play well, but our kids don't need that monkey on their back. We're just trying to scrath out as many wins as they can, and I didn't coach them well enough to get that done, but hopefully we can learn some lessons from tonight and get better."
Cal (10-13, 4-6 Pac-12) shot just 32 percent from the field, including 28 percent in the second half. The Bears also committed 17 turnovers, which further handicaped the Bears' attack.
Two nights early, Cal shot 55.6 percent from the field and committed 11 turnovers and was in the game until the end in a 71-65 loss at Colorado.
On Saturday, Matt Bradley, Cal's leading scorer, was limited to 13 points, with nine of those coming in the second half. Timmy Allen was the primary Utah defender against Bradley. No other Cal player had more than six points.
"We obviously didn't play as well as we wanted at either end, and our turnovers were a factor," Fox said. "Offensively we weren't nearly as efficient as we were the other night, but you've got to play better on the road. But give Utah credit; they've got a good team."
Utah (14-9, 5-6) was led by Allen's 21 points, and the Utes passed Cal in the standings. Utah controlled the game and held a 19-point lead with 2:28 remaining.
Pregame: Cal came into Saturday's game looking for its first win away from Haas Pavilion this season. The Bears (10-12, 4-5 Pac-12 before Saturday's action) are coming off a 71-65 loss against No. 24 Colorado that dropped Cal to 0-6 in games played on their opponent's home court. They are also 0-3 in neutral-site games this season.
Offense has been a problem for Cal on the road. The Bears' 65 points at Colorado were a season high away from home. They shot 56 percent from the field against the Buffaloes and still lost.
Utah (13-9, 4-6 entering Saturday) pulled off a 64-56 overtime win at Stanford on Thursday, and it has a decided homeourt advantage. Utah is second (behind Arizona) in home attendance in the Pac-12, averaging 10,730 fans per game. The Utes began the day with a 9-1 record at home this season, the only loss coming against Oregon. Cal has not won at Utah in seven years.
Timmy Allen is the Utes' high scorer at 18.3 points per game, but the star against Stanford was 7-foot freshman Branden Carlse, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots against the Cardinal.
Cal's leading scorer is Matt Bradley, who is averging 17.9 points per game, but the Bears have received a boost lately from point guard Paris Austin, who is averaging 13.3 points over the previous four games and has had success penetrating against all defenses.
Check back for in-game updates on Cal at Utah. Tipoff is 5 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
Cal starting lineup: G Paris Austin; G Kareem South; G Matt Bradley; F Grant Anticevich; C Lars Thiemann.
Utah starting lineup: F Timmy Allen, G Rylan Jones, C Branden Carlson, G Jaxon Brenchley, F Riley Battin
Game Updates:
15:03 first half: Cal scores the game's first points on a Matt Bradley steal and layup but two buckets by Branden Carlsen help the Buffaloes force ahead. Colorado 9, Cal 6.
12:30 first half: Matt Bradley picked his second foul with 13:54 left. Two baskets by Riley Battin extend the Utah lead. Utah 13, Cal 6.
12:13 first half: Mark Fox picks up a tehnical foul arguing a foul call, and Rylan Jones makes one of two free throws. Utah 14, Cal 6.
7:10 first half: Cal reduced a 17-6 deficit to 17-14 by scoring eight straight points. Kareem South finished the run with a three-pointer. But Alfonso Plummer scored four points to push the margin back to seven. Utah 21, Cal 14.
3:35 first half: Utah gets its biggest lead of the half at 24-14, but a three-point shot by Joel Brown and a three-point play by Andre Kelly get Cal close. Utah 26, Cal 20.
Halftime: A running hook shot by Utah's Lahat Thioune at the first-half buzzer gave the Utes a 12-point lead at the break. Riley Battin of Utah is the game's high scorer with just seven points. Paris Austin leads Cal with five points, while Bradley has only four. Cal shot 36 percent from the floor in the first half, and the Utes hit 48.1 percent of their field-goal attempts. Cal has no second-chance points. Utah 34, Cal 22.
15:32 second half: Utah still hasn't scored in the second half, having missed its first five shots from the floor. A fastbreak bucket by Matt Bradley gave him his sixth point of the game and reduced the defiit to eight points. Utah 34, Cal 26.
11:55 second half: Utah made just 1 of its first 9 shots of the half, but Cal could not make much progress. Cal has just 28 points. That's not good, if you are wondering. Utah 38, Cal 28.
10:42 second half: Matt Bradley hits a three-pointer to give him nine points. Utah 40, Cal 31.
7:39 second half: Cal having a lot of trouble generating offense in the halfcourt. Utah has increased its lead to 13 points. Cal s shooting 5-of-17 in the second half. Utah 46, Cal 33.
3:45 second half: The game is getting away from Cal. A 17-point deficit is a lot and it seems more like a 30-point deficit with Cal's offense. Utah 54, Cal 37.
