Bears No Match For #14 Louisville, Lose 85-68

Poor shooting numbers continue to plague the Bears

These types of games are especially frustrating. As a mostly reasonable Cal fan, I know there is a miniscule chance for a Cal win on the road against a red-hot Louisville team. I am really hoping for a competent showing, like being within striking distance at half-time, but ultimately succumbing to the better team and losing by 10-15 points. This was not one of those games.

The Golden Bears started off well. Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 8 early points as Cal took a 10-6 lead six minutes into the game. Cal was feisty and not backing down. The Bears held steady for the next stretch of the game, until Louisville’s Terrance Edwards Jr. asserted himself. Edwards scored 11 points over a seven minute stretch midway through the first half. Louisville regained the lead at 25-22 with just over six minutes left in the half, and never looked back.

What was a tie game with seven minutes to go in the first half turned into a 15-point deficit at halftime, 41-26. The deficit grew as large as 24 in the second half, and Cal never really posed a threat to the Cardinals who cruised to the 17-point victory.

Terrance Edwards Jr. scored a career-high 35 points for the Cardinals. Edwards did most of his damage from outside, hitting 7-of-11 from 3-point range. Edwards scored 15 of Louisville’s first 19 points. Cal was led by Jovan Blacksher’s season-high 22 points.

Watching this game early on, I felt that Louisville was playing without any urgency. Outside of Edwards, no one could shoot for the Cardinals. Cal was playing with a good amount of energy, but were taking ill-advised shots and not playing with any offensive rhythm. So many times in the first half, a 4-point to 8-point run for the Bears would have quieted the crowd and fueled some belief in the Bears. Instead, the Bear did not convert a field goal over the last 8 minutes of the half as they fell behind by double-digits within the span of 3 minutes. For the half, Cal made 7 shots on 34 attempts, with Blacksher accounting for 3 of those makes. Louisville played solid defense, but Cal themselves are more responsible for Cal’s lack of offensive execution.

The second half was uneventful. Cal shot moderately better, 38% as a team in the second half compared to their 21% first half rate. After shooting a combined 1-for-15 in the first half, Andrej Stojakovic and Jeremiah Wilkinson made 3-of-11 attempts after halftime.

Cal is last in the conference in team shooting percentage (42.1%, 311th in the country) and assists per game (10.48, 347th in the country). Cal is 2nd in free throw attempts per game because Cal’s offense is reliant on drives to the basket and drawing contact. We leads the ACC in offensive rebounding because we miss alot of shots. I can live with the shooting numbers IF they were high percentage shots or if they were part of an offensive progression of screen-drive-pass-shoot. Instead, we see drives to the basket looking to score or draw the foul with no other options, or long-range, low percentage shots. The lack of assists, and the lack of looking for assists, is disheartening. It’s not fun to watch.

There is athletic talent on this team. We crash the boards better than any other team. Mady Sissoko has exceeded expectations as an anchor in the interior. A fully healthy Andrej (who I still think is not 100% from his January injury) and a still-learning Jeremiah can wreak havoc on defenses. But we are at the point of looking to next year, and believing that the coaching staff can learn from this year and adjust accordingly.

Cal finishes the season on Saturday at Notre Dame. The Bears and the Fighting Irish are two of the five teams who are either 7-12 or 6-13 in the conference, in a jumble for 11th-15th place in the standings. It will be a good opportunity for Cal to finish the regular season with a win and carry a small amount of momentum into next week’s ACC Tournament.