The California Golden Bears (0-1) lost to an Oregon State Beavers (1-0) team of newcomers Wednesday to start the 2020-2021 men's basketball season.
California shot only 40% in its 63-71 loss in Corvallis, Ore., which was played as a non-conference game after Colorado State could not play because of positive Covid-19 tests. The Golden Bears are in Corvallis, Ore., to play in a "multi-team" exhibition event.
The Beavers iced the victory in their home arena after converting four shots from the charity stripe in the final minute of play.
California guard Matt Bradley scored 21 points, including one three-pointer. (Photo Courtesy: Cal Athletics via Al Sermeno)
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for California: two Golden Bears — guards Matt Bradley and Makale Foreman — ended the evening with double-digit scores to their names.
California also outscored Oregon State 20 points to nine in points off turnovers.
Bradley put up 21 points, a game-high, including 10 free-throws out of 11 attempts, although he came up cold in three-point attempts, going one for seven from beyond the arc.
Foreman, the graduate transfer, scored an even 10 points in only 19 minutes of play-time in his first game for the Golden Bears. He made four out of 10 attempts, including two from downtown.
Oregon State, which played with many new players, including transfers from Nicholls State, Warith Alatishe, and junior-college transfer Rodrigue Andela, found the chemistry California lacked. The Beavers out-rebounded the Golden Bears 43 to 32.
Superstitious Cal faithful might draw pause in the result. The Golden Bears have now lost two straight games to the Beavers. California lost their regular-season finale last season, also in Corvallis, Ore.
Check out the Write for California Watch-Along below for more reactions:
Literally watched about 2 mins - saw 1) Betley nail a 3 off a good Joel Brown feed 2) Cal play some solid D for a few trips 3) Lars brick a short lefty hook, not a great omen...about par for the course. Stats say we could not shoot
Literally watched about 2 mins - saw 1) Betley nail a 3 off a good Joel Brown feed 2) Cal play some solid D for a few trips 3) Lars brick a short lefty hook, not a great omen...about par for the course. Stats say we could not shoot
12-6 come on bears!
What’s the score?