Men's Basketball Insta-Recap: Cal Beats Cal Poly, 91-73
The Bears overcome a slow start to dominate the Mustangs
Cal Poly raced out to an 11-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game, behind 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. In their game against USF on Tuesday, the Mustangs took 34 3-point attempts, so the Bears should have known that Cal Poly would be liberal in their long-range shooting. Former Cal player Jarred Hyder, now the starting point guard for the Mustangs, scored an early 6 points. The lead would be as large at 12, 17-5 in favor of Cal Poly at the 14-minute mark.
Cal clamped down on defense, and the shots started falling for the Bears. The Bears were able to close the gap to 24-20 at the 8-minute timeout. By this point, 10 different Cal players had logged minutes, with 8 different players scoring at least 2 points.
Cal took their first lead 25-24 after a 3-point basket by Rytis Petraitis at the 5:31 mark of the first half. Andrej Stojakovic and Christian Tucker added consecutive three point baskets. Cal stretched the lead to 33-26 before Cal Poly stopped the bleeding. At the half, Cal held a 39-35 lead. Christian Tucker led the Bears with 8 points, while Ryris Petraitis and Andrej Stojakovic each contributed 7.
Cal started the second half on a shooting hot streak, with three consecutive 3-pointers between Omot and Stojakovic. Cal’s ball motion was key, with the extra pass resulting in easier shot attempts. Cal started the half on a 12-3 scoring streak to lead 51-38 at the 16-minute mark.
The Bears extended their lead to 22 points. Joshua Ola-Joseph scored a quick 6 points, and Jeremiah Wilkinson added a steal and breakaway dunk during this stretch. Cal Poly scored a quick 6 points to cut the lead to 75-59 at the 8-minute timeout.
Cal became complacent over the next few minutes, allowing Cal Poly to cut the lead to 12 on a couple of occasions. Rytis Petraitis absorbed 2 charge calls by the Mustangs, and an alley-oop pass from DJ Campbell to Lee Dort got the team and crowd re-engaged. Cal held steady from then on and cruised to a 91-73 win.
The statistics tell the story. Cal shot better (47% to 38%), attempted 7 more shots and 5 more free throws, and won the turnover battle 18 to 10.
It was another balanced scoring night for the Bears as four players scored in double digits, and four other players scoring between 6 and 8 points. Jovan Blacksher Jr. led the Bears with 18 points, and Andrej Stojakovic added 15. Rytis Petraitis had an excellent all-around game. He scored 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and drew 8 fouls.
Some thoughts:
- Petraitis plays with a lack of self-regard for his body unseen since Jorge Guttierez
- Dort had a ton of energy tonight, on a night where Sissoko looked a bit gassed at points. That said, Sissoko had a three block stretch early in the second half that was impressive
- Trio of Stojakovic, Blacksher, and Omot is going to be the main offense, Campbell and Tucker can score but that's not what they do. Continually impressed with how comfortable Omot looks as a ball-handler at his height
- Peja was there to see his son, was funny looking over when Andrej hit a three and seeing Peja look stone-faced
- Getting some flashes from Wilkinson and Ola-Joseph, still want to see more. Starting Omot was probably the right call over Ola-Joseph, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Petraitis in the other forward spot.
All in all, we'll see how they hold up in Nashville next week
Cal Men’s basketball team is 2-0 with a +31 point differential.
Last time they met those benchmarks was 2016-2017. They finished 21-13