Cal Basketball: Coach Mark Fox Bristles at Utah's Parade to Free Throw Line in Bears' Loss
Utah kept shooting free throws even though Cal coach Mark Fox wasn’t convinced the Utes were being fouled.
The visitors left Haas Pavilion with a 76-75 victory on Thursday afternoon following a generally well-played game with an undeniably strange finish.
Utah (9-7, 6-6 Pac-12) did not even attempt a field goal in the final 4 minutes while the Bears (7-15, 2-13) converted 7 of 10 to close the game.
Instead, the Utes repeatedly went to the free throw line, at one point making 9 of 10 attempts, to hold Cal at bay.
And when the Bears needed two free throws to tie it with 0.7 seconds left, they couldn’t finish the job. Andre Kelly, who was 4-for-4 at the line to that point, missed the first. Then, needing to miss the second to allow the possibility of a tip-in, he accidentally made it.
Cal lost for the seventh straight game.
Asked about the Bears’ propensity to repeatedly foul late in the game, Fox offered this response: “I think I would rephrase your statement just a little bit. We would defend and late in the shot clock they would call a foul.
“They went to the line trip after trip after trip. And that’s a place that you can’t defend. I thought that was a huge factor in the game.”
The Utes shot free throws on five straight possessions from 3:27 remaining to 45.4 seconds left, converting 9 of 10. They turned the ball over on their next possession, then were sent to the foul line twice more, although Timmy Allen missed three of four tries.
That allowed the Bears to scramble back from what was a 75-68 deficit with 45 seconds left. A putback by Kelly with 17 seconds left and a drive by Matt Bradley with 6.8 seconds to go got the Bears within two points.
Utah panicked on the inbounds play, turning the ball over and giving the Bears another shot. Bradley missed a good look at a 3-point try that would have won it, but Kelly rebounded the miss and was fouled.
“We got the ball back with a chance to win. We want Matt Bradley taking that shot every time,” Fox said. “I would take Andre Kelly at the free throw line — he’s been shooting them better the past six or seven games.
“He missed the first. We had a tip-in play ready to go . . . it’s just hard to intentionally miss.”
In the video below Fox talks about his team's overall play against Utah:
Fox was pleased with most aspects of the Bears’ performance. He said the team had one of its best — and best-attended — practices of the year on Tuesday and he was encouraged he’d have more healthy players available for this one.
First-half defense wasn’t good enough, Fox said, but he liked his team’s competitive spirit and its offensive execution for most of the afternoon.
Senior Grant Anticevich in the video below discusses how the Bears are coping with the stress of seven consecutive defeats:
Bradley finished with 20 points and is averaging 21.2 over the past five games. Anticevich had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Kelly scored 17 on 6-for-8 from the field, 5-for-6 at the free throw line.
Senior grad transfer Makale Foreman, who has struggled with a back injury in recent weeks and has not shot well, came off the bench to provide 12 points, including a couple timely 3-point baskets.
Fox gave freshman guard Jalen Celestine his first career start, matching the 6-foot-6 native of Long Island, N.Y., against Allen, Utah’s 6-7 junior forward. It was a tough assignment, and Allen wound up with 18 points, which is actually below his average of 22.5 in four previous games against the Bears.
Cal shot 52 percent from the field, its best performance in the past nine games, and was 11 for 13 at the foul line. Utah converted 51 percent from the field and was 21 for 27 from the free throw line.
The Bears committed 24 turnovers, which Utah turned into 20 points.
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Cover photo of Matt Bradley by Chris Brown, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
