Cal Men’s Basketball Blows Out Morgan State

ACC play beckons after a glorified exhibition

photo via @calmbball twitter

Morgan State entered today’s game 1-8 against Division 1 competition, with a lone win at home against the Purple Eagles of Niagara. They’re ranked 360th on Kenpom and 362nd on Torvik, and there are only 365 teams in all of D1. Even without Justin Pippen, DJ Campbell, and Rytis Petraitis, this was not a game that was ever in serious doubt. The only question was how big the margin was going to be.

Then Cal came out and went 11-20 on their 3s while Morgan State went 1-17, which is the kind of shooting variance that turns a normal blowout into an eye popping blowout. The Bears of Berkeley nearly doubled up the Bears of Baltimore in a 97-50 win.

Chris Bell was the star on the night, scoring 28 points on just 11 shots, but he got plenty of help from the rest of the lineup. John Camden hit 5 of his 7 threes, Semetri Carr tallied 9 assists, and Lee Dort was efficient inside.

If you’re looking for meaning on the night, Carr’s 17 point, 9 assist night while taking over point guard duties for an injured Pippen was probably the most encouraging development. However, I’m hesitant to take anything away from this game other than acting as an effective chance to shake off some rust ahead of a tough game against Columbia on Sunday.

When Cal plays games like this that aren’t especially compelling as competitive contests, you tend to focus on bigger picture questions. Right now the biggest question is when will Cal get healthy? DJ Campbell missed the game with an injury, and he already missed the first six games of the season (but looked fully healthy in between). Justin Pippen has now missed two straight after getting hurt against Dominican, and Rytis Petraitis has now missed a whole month, with no announced timetable for a return.

So far, none of these injuries have impacted Cal in the standings, but that’s at least in part a reflection of how easy Cal’s schedule has been. By some measures Cal has had the easiest schedule in the nation among major conference teams, so a handful of absences has been surmountable. But if Cal is missing three rotation players on Sunday it could cost Cal a game, and winning in ACC play with the 7 player rotation Mark Madsen rolled with against Morgan State would be very challenging.

So tune back in on Sunday against a dangerous Columbia team and hope to see more Bears suited up and ready to play. Because after Sunday, non-conference play is over, and the season gets very real, very fast:

No biggie, just five Quad 1 games in a three week span to start ACC play, along with visits to Haas Pavilion from three different programs that have won NCAA tournament championships in the last 15 years. Fun!