After Playing Its Best Game, Cal Plays Perhaps Its Worst Game

Bears lose by 31 points to a Washington State team that was without its best player

This one did not make sense.

Cal was coming off its best performance of the season, a 71-62 victory on Saturday over a Colorado team that was still in the race for a Pac-12 title.

Washington State, meanwhile, had lost two in a row to drop into 10th place and was coming off a tough two-point loss to Washington on Monday that enabled the Huskies to climb out of last place.

Plus the Cougars did not have their best player, Isaac Bonton, and his 18.4-points-per-game scoring average available against Cal on Thursday because of ankle injuries.

So what happens? Cal suffered its largest margin of defeat of the season -in an 82-51 loss to Washington State in Pullman, Wash., on Thursday night that was probably the Bears' worst performance of the season.

"I was really disappointed in the effort we gave today," Cal coach Mark Fox said.

The Bears (8-16, 3-14 Pac-12) shot just 36 percent from the field while Washington State (13-10, 6-10) shot 51.7 percent, hit 12 of 23 three-point attempts and committed just seven turnovers.  Washington State sophomore Noah Williams had a career-high 32 points, including 24 in the first half, which was already a career high.

But what was most disturbing to Fox was how poorly the Bears played just five days after giving their best performance.

"As well as we played on Saturday, and then to flip the coin and play that poorly tonight," Fox said, "and I don't want to take anything away from Washington State, because their kids played well, but for our kids to be so different than they were the other night. We have to develop the competitive maturity to play every day. 

"We have to find a way to give the best effort every night."

Matt Bradley did not start Thursday's game because he was not feeling well, but he ended up with 16 points in 23 minutes of court time. He guarded Williams for much of the second half, and they could be seen talking to each other. Bradley was visibly frustrated for much of the second half.

The question now is, how will Cal respond in Saturday's game at Washington, which is important because the loser will be alone in last place?

Click here for game details.

Listen to Fox's postgame comments here:

Cover photo of Noah Williams by James Snook, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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