Mark Madsen's Cal Earns a Signature Win over UCLA at Chase Center
The Bears are ballin
For the first time since February of 2020, Cal Men’s Basketball has beaten a ranked team. After a back and forth affair, Cal defeated No. 18 UCLA 80-72 in front of a spirited crowd at Chase Center.
Chris Bell continued the torrid start to his season, lighting up the cords with 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting, but 5 of 7 from three point range. Different Bears made their imprint throughout the night, from TT Carr’s first half energy to Rytis Petraitis’ constant hustle in the second half.
Cal fended off each and every run UCLA had, giving Head Coach Mark Madsen his signature win after 2+ season at the helm.
A fast but not reckless pace
When the Bears turned over the Bruins, they ran. After gobbling up a defensive rebound, they ran. Cal pushed the pace before UCLA could set their defense and it paid dividends.
Madsen’s team won the battles in transition offense (17-7 fastbreak points) and in the points off turnovers department (17-11). To achieve both of those feats and only have eight total turnovers for the game is the sign of an efficient offense, one that was never seriously challenged after the opening three minutes.
Justin Pippen and Carr consistently had eyes up to find open teammates in transition and made the Bruins pay. Similarly, in the half court setting, Cal was moving with purpose and had some easy baskets created off the back of Milos Ilic.
The Bears offense has traveled outside of Haas Pavilion to this point in the year. A normally sure-handed defense, Cal kept UCLA off balance in what became an enlightening showcase.
Great players win big games
This was the phrase that Madsen uttered in his postgame press conference. A myriad of players made their presence felt in the city by the bay.
From Bell to Pippen to Carr to Petraitis to Dai Dai Ames taking the Bears home, it took a village to get it done.
While acknowledging that UCLA didn’t have Tyler Bilodeau along with Donovan Dent having a disastrous game before getting hurt himself, Cal still had to play with the right venom and poise of a winning basketball team.
And they absolutely did.
A game like this can continue to pay off when it comes to maintaining confidence down the road. The defense shined at certain points while the rebounding improved over the course of the game. Then, the officiating slowed the pace down and those pressure free throws were converted.
That’s a big time win for Cal, who are now ranked 66th in Kenpom, the highest in roughly a decade. Bell eclipsed 1,000 career points as he embarks on a flamethrower season. It’s an unselfish brand of basketball that has rewarded players and coaches alike.
They’ll need more of it if they want to take this beyond a blip on the radar.
This can’t be right. UCLA fans told me they were now the best UC in all things! Were they too overconfident?
Great win to build on. My mind automatically jumps to figuring out a path to the NCAA but I need to slow my roll. The team and Coach look solid. Here’s continued improvement and racking up the wins.