Cal Rally Falls Short in Loss to Colorado

Cal’s season is over after the 11th-seeded Golden Bears lost to third-seeded Colorado 61-58 Thursday night in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

But the Bears made it interesting. Trailing by 13 points with 7:31 left and by nine points with 1:05 remaining, Cal got within three points at 61-58 with 40.6 seconds left on a Jalen Celestine three-pointer under pressure.

Colorado's McKinley Wright IV committed a turnover with 11.5 seconds left, so Cal had a chance to tie with a three-pointer. Cal's Makale Foreman got a pretty good look on a long three-point shot with two seconds left but it did not go down.

Cal’s Matt Bradley, who scored 29 points when the Bears beat Colorado last month, was limited to 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting and did not score until 11:22 remained in the second half. He missed his first eight shots and fouled out with 3:28 left.

Colorado (21-7) won its fifth straight game and will face USC in Friday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal game

Cal finished 9-20. Grant Anticevich led the Bears with 11 points. Evan Battey had 15 for the Buffaloes. Wright finished with 10 points but was 4-for-14 from the field.

Neither team shot well. Cal made 38.3 percent of its shots, and Colorado hit on 38.5 percent. Colorado, which entered the game on pace to set a single-season Division I record for free-throw percentage, hit 18 of 23 free-throws, while Cal was 15-of-20.

Pregame: This game, which was the fourth Pac-12 tournament game of the day at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, started an hour late because the UCLA-Oregon State game went to overtime and the USC-Utah game went to double overtime.

Cal guard Jarred Hyder is not available for the game because of an undisclosed injury.

Cal is coming off a 76-58 victory over Stanford in Wednesday's first-round game. It may have been the Golden Bears' best all-around performance of the season, and coach Mark Fox credited the fact that the Bears had 10 days of practice since their final regular-season game.

Matt Bradley's block of a dunk attempt by Stanford's 6-foot-10 Lukas Kisunas with about five minutes left was a major moment in the game. Cal led by just one point at the time, then dominated the rest of the game.

Cal split its two regular-season games with Colorado, losing by 29 points in Boulder in their first meeting, then coming up with their best win of the season in a nine-point victory over the Buffaloes on Feb. 13 in Berkeley.

Cal finished in last place in the Pac-12 standings, but the win over Stanford lifted Cal's record to 9-19.

The Buffaloes came into the game with a 20-7 record and riding a four-game winning streak that included victories over USC and UCLA.

Starting lineups:

Cal -- F Andre Kelly, G Matt Bradley, G Joel Brown, F Grant Anticevich, C Lars Thiemann

Colorado -- G McKinley Wright IV, F Evan Battey, G Eli Parquet, F D'Shawn Schwartz, G Dallas Walton

Game Action

12:42 left first half: Colorado misses its first seven shots from the field, and Jalen Celestine and Grant Anticevich hit three-pointers to give Cal a 7-0 lead. But Colorado quickly rallies by scoring six straight points before Anticevich hits another three-point shot. Cal guard Jarred Hyder will not play in the game because of an undisclosed injury. Cal 10, Colorado 6.

10:51 first half: McKinley Wright IV is 0-for-4 from the field and is scoreless although he goes to the foul line after the media timeout. Freshman Monty Bowser makes a rare appearance for Cal. Cal 12, Colorado 8.

7:12 first half: Colorado is struggling on offense. It is 4-for-19 from the field, including 0-for-5 on three-pointers. Cal is not much better at 5-for-17, and Matt Bradley is 0-for-3 and has yet to score. Cal 14, Colorado 10.

3:39 first half: Colorado's Jabari Walker scores on a layup to tie the score and can put the Buffaloes ahead with a free throw after the timeout. Colorado is 6-for-25 from the floor, and Cal is 6-for-23. Offense has taken the night off so far. Matt Bradley still has yet to score. Cal 16, Colorado 16.

1:24 first half: Walker's free throw puts Colorado ahead and Dallas Walton follows with a three-pointer and a 15-footer. Bradley still has not scored. Colorado 24, Cal 18.

37 seconds first half: D.J. Thorpe scores again for Cal and has four points. Colorado 24, Cal 20.

Halftime: Colorado 24, Cal 20

Matt Bradley played 14 minutes in the first half but did not score. He is 0-for-3 from the floor. Colorado's Eli Parquet is guarding Bradley and doing an excellent job, but the Buffaloes are double-teaming Bradley aggressively whenever he gets the ball at the top of the key. Bradley averages 18.4 points and scored 29 points when the Bears beat Colorado during the regular season. Grant Anticevich leads the Bears in scoring in the first half with just six points.

Colorado's best player, McKinley Wright IV, is not doing much better than Bradley. He is 1-for-7 from the field and has four points and one assist at halftime. Dallas Walton has nine points for Colorado.

Colorado shot 28.6 percent in the first half but still has a four-point lead. Cal shot 33.3 percent in the first 20 minutes.

Second half

15:48 second half: Cal scores the first five points of the second half to take a one-point lead, but four points by Eli Parquet help the Buffaloes regain the lead. Bradley still has not scored and has three personal fouls. He is 0-for-5 from the field. Colorado 28, Cal 27.

14:19 second half: Colorado finishes off an 8-1 run to take a six-point lead. The Buffaloes are the top free-throw-shooting team in the country and are 11-for-11 from the line in this game. Cal is 2-for-5 on free throws. Colorado 34, Cal 28.

11:34 second half: Colorado is starting to break away. A three-pointer by Jabari Walkers gives the Buffaloes their largest lead at 41-30. Nobody on either team has scored in double figures yet. Bradley is still scoreless and 0-for-6 from the field. Colorado is 13-for-13 from the foul line. Colorado 41, Cal 30.

11:22 second half: Matt Bradley scores his first points of the game from the foul line with 11:22 left in the game. He has three points. Colorado 41, Cal 33.

7:52 second half: Colorado finally misses some free throws and is 15-for-18 from the line. Evan Battey is the first player in double figures with 11 points. T.J. Thorpe, who has received little playing time for Cal this season, has nine points, tying for the team high. Colorado 50, Cal 39.

4:51 second half: Colorado pushes its lead to 13 points, but Matt Bradley hits two baskets and Ryan Betley hits a three-pointer to get the margin down to seven. Bradley has seven points. Colorado 53, Cal 46

3:41 second half: Matt Bradley has come alive. His three-pointer gets the Colorado lead down to four points, forcing Colorado to call timeout. Bradley has 10 points. Colorado 53, Cal 49.

1:42 second half: Bradley fouls out with 3:28 left, and D'Shawn Schwartz turns that foul into a three-point play to increase the Buffaloes' lead to seven points. Colorado 59, Cal 52.

Final: Colorado 61, Cal 58

Cover photo of McKinley Wright IV by Isaiah J. Downing, USA TODAY Sports

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

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