Cal Basketball: A Stunner at Haas - Bears Lose to UC Davis For 1st Time in a Century
The Cal men’s basketball team has experienced some gruesome lows over the past five years. But on Monday night in their season-opening game, the Bears took a turn down a road they’ve never traveled.
UC Davis arrived at Haas Pavilion having gone 0-33 against the Bears in a series that began in 1917.
The Aggies went home with a well-deserved 75-65 victory as Cal made just one field goal — a tip-in — over the final 9 1/2 minutes.
Quipped one UC Davis fan afterward, “Nobody beats the Aggies 34 times in a row.”
Coach Mark Fox acknowledged being “very disappointed” in how his team performed in the second half. He said the new players on the roster and the young ones still haven’t forged a rhythm. He noted that three scholarship players were unavailable due to injuries.
Not quite sure that covers it.
Against a team picked to finish sixth in the Big West Conference, here are some of the Bears’ lowlights:
— They shot 56 percent from the field in the first half, just 26 percent (10-38) in the second half.
— They gave up 24 fast-break points while scoring just two themselves
— They used a 17-3 run to flip a 51-43 deficit into a 60-54 lead with 9:37 to play. Then they were outscored 21-5 the rest of the game. Their only field goal the rest of the night was the put-back by Kuany Kuany that cut the margin to eight points with 2:13 left.
— Cal opened the game by hitting 3 of 4 from the 3-point arc and made just 3 of 16 the rest of the night.
— The Bears were outrebounded 40-34 after also losing the battle on the boards last week in their exhibition win over Division II Chico State.
And on Friday afternoon, Cal takes on Kansas State of the Big 12 Conference, a team that scored 93 points on Monday night in a win over UT Rio Grande Valley.
The Bears have assembled five consecutive losing seasons for the first time in program history, and this performance certainly doesn't suggest they can end that streak.
Junior transfer Devin Askew, who played the past two seasons at Kentucky and Texas, did his best to fuel an offense that had few answers. He led the Bears with 19 points and four assists, but he shot 7 for 20 from the field and 1 for 6 from deep.
Senior center Lars Thiemann had 17 points and seven rebounds, but also had five turnovers and missed a wide-open layup when the game was still up for grabs.
Kuany scored 10 points and freshman Grant Newell added eight.
Aggies senior forward Christian Anigwe, younger brother of former Cal women’s star Kristine Anigwe, made his first three 3-point tries and scored a game-high 21 points. Ty Johnson scored 17 points and Elijah Pepper added 16.
Cover photo of Cal guard Devin Askew by Kelley L. Cox, KLC fotos
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
