Cal Collapses against Stanford, loses 87-76

Cal blows an 18-point lead in the painful defeat

Photo courtesy Don Shennum.

Let’s get this out of the way. Mark Madsen has bought the Cal basketball program back to relevance. This game does not change what is still an optimistic future for Cal’s program.

With a return to relevance, we also get a return to painful, gut-wrenching outcomes. It’s not the dull pain of the past couple years. It’s the sharp pain in your heart and psyche that makes you question why you’re a sports fan in the first place.

I am in pain. I expect you are, as well.

Onto the game.

Cal played a near-perfect first half in racing out to a 45-34 lead. They had 13 assists and only 4 turnovers. Jaylon Tyson had 16 points, and three other players had at least 6 points. Maxime Raynaud had 13 points and was winning the matchups down low, but no other Stanford player was emerging as a dominant figure.

The second half started out well for the Bears. Cal pushed the lead to 63-45 at the 14-minute mark. Jalen Celestine, Jalen Cone and Keonte Kennedy hit consecutive 3’s, and everything was going Cal’s way.

Cal would score 6 points the rest of the half.

The fouls started fouling up, and Cal’s offense went lethargic for a solid 10 minute stretch. Stanford turned up their on-the-ball defense and limited Jaylon Tyson to only 2 second half points. Stanford themselves made multiple mistakes during this stretch, and Cal held onto the lead longer than expected. The game went from 63-45 Cal leading, to 68-65 with 32 seconds left in the game. Jalen Cone was at the foul line, and it looked like Cal would survive. Cone made the first foul shot, but missed the second. 69-65, Cal.

Stanford’s Spencer Jones would reciprocate at the other end, making only 1 of 2 free throws with 26 seconds left. 69-66, Cal.

Stanford plays pressure defense on the ensuing inbounds. Jalen Cone gets trapped in the corner, and Stanford gets the steal. Michael Jones would hit a 3-pointer with :18 seconds left. 69-69 tie.

Keonte Kennedy’s inbound pass gets stolen by Spencer Jones. Stanford has the ball with 16 seconds left and calls a timeout to set up the last play. Spencer Jones drive to the basket rims out, and Jaylon Tyson’s full court shot at the buzzer misses. Regulation ends 69-69. On to overtime.

Stanford starts overtime by hitting back-to-back 3’s, and outscores Cal 18-9 in the extra period. Final score is Stanford 87-76. Stanford advances. Cal’s season is done.

Several key factors in the loss;

• Cal committed 24 fouls, Stanford 16. That led to a 36-9 free throw discrepancy in favor of the Cardinal. Cal missed 3 free throws late, but no one had shot any foul shots up to that point.

• Cal went with an 8-man rotation, with Devin Curtis getting all the backup time from Fardaws Aimaq, and Gus Larson playing zero minutes. When the fouls started mounting for Jalen Celestine and Fardaws Aimaq, Cal started running out of players who were in game flow. When Aimaq fouled out with 4 minutes left, Grant Newell assumed big-man duties against Raynaud.

• Jaylon Tyson continued to attack in the second half, but Spencer Jones locked him down. He had 2 big blocks on Tyson drives that typically end with Tyson finishing at the rim.

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This game was eerily similar to the Arizona State home loss in December. In that game, Cal surrendered a 16-point lead against and overmatched opponent, and lost in the last minute. It was a painful loss. We found out a couple weeks back that that game was a turning point for team, and was the catalyst for a generally successful conference season.

I prefer to think that this game will be a catalyst for Coach Madsen and the staff. Yes, this feeling is horrible. It’s what you do from this point on that counts.

So I will now head to the casino, and have a couple drinks. I’ll feel the pain and be sad about this game for the rest of the week as I watch the other PAC-12 teams continue to play.

Then next week, we’ll start producing season recap articles and look to the future. This game will weigh heavily, but it’s only one part of the long arc of Cal’s ascendency as a basketball program.

And I’ll continue to root against Stanford.