Cal Men's Basketball: Bears Fall to the Mizzou Tigers, 98-93

Missouri dominates the second half, scores 63 points on 22-of-26 shooting

Ryits Petraitis with the look we all had watching the second half

There were some eye-popping statistics in the game this evening in Columbia. The Bears shot 50% for the game, including 42% from 3-point range. They made 21-of-25 free throws, had 18 assists on their 31 made baskets, and outrebounded their opponent by 10. Five different Bears scored in double figures, led by a career-high 26 points from Andrej Stojakovic.

Unfortunately, the second-half statistics for Missouri were even more impressive.

The game was tight for the first 15 minutes of the game. Both teams looked to score quickly in transition as the tempo was high from the tipoff. Jovan Blacksher Jr. returned from a 3-game absence, but the Bears were still without BJ Omot and DeJuan Campbell for the fourth straight game. It was a back-and forth affair for most of the first half. At the 4-minute media timeout, Cal held a small 35-33 lead. From that point, it was all Golden Bears. The next 3 minutes saw Cal score 16 straight points. During this stretch, Missouri turned the ball over three times, committed 2 fouls, and missed all 3 of their shots. Cal was perfect from the floor and Lee Dort grabbed every single rebound available. The Tigers scored a late basket to stop the run, but it was all Cal at that point, who led 51-35 going into the half.

The second half was a different story.

Missouri turned up the intensity and the tempo right away. They adapted a more intense, physical style. They were successfully running the pick and roll over and over. When Cal switched to a zone defense, the Tigers attacked the basket from different angles, getting to the rim with ease or finding an open teammate down low for slam dunk finishes. Multiple Cal players ended up on the floor after contact, getting called for fouls as the Tigers dominated with their physical and aggressive interior play. Mady Sissoko and Lee Dort had their moments, but it was not enough as Missouri were the aggressors across all five positions.

What was a 16-point halftime lead quickly evaporated as Missouri outscored the Bears 22-8 over the first seven minutes of the second half. Missouri would take lead for good, 65-64 with just under eleven minutes left in the game. Cal would stay close the rest of the way, never falling behind more than 6 points. But watching the game I never got the feeling that the Bears would pull out the win. The play below encapsulates how the second half went.

There are three Bears surrounding Missouri’s Mark Mitchell. Mitchell takes a first step and displaces Mady Sissoko to clear some room. Joshua Ola-Joseph attempts to tie up the ball(I thought he should have been called for a reaching foul here), and Rytis Petraitis comes over to assist in the tie-up. None of it matters. Mitchell has enough strength and control to fight through the three defenders and connect on the short one-handed hook.

In the second half, The Tigers scored 63 points on 85% shooting. 23 of their 26 shots were from close range, with only 3 shot attempts from 3-point range. They got to the foul line 27 times (making 18).

All of it adds up to a 98-93 loss. Missouri has been averaging over 90 points a game, so this was not an aberration for them. The 98 points is the second-most points Coach Madsen's Bears have surrendered, behind the 100 points scored by the Arizona Wildcats last December.

It’s easy to say the defense lost this entirely winnable game. It’s easy to say that defensive-minded DeJuan Campbell would have been able to slow down Anthony Robinson’s repeated drives to the basket(game-high 29 points), or that BJ Omot’s length would have made a big difference for contesting the wings driving and dishing so easily.

The deeper question for me is this; Missouri shoved Cal in the chest, and Cal couldn’t shove back. How will they respond when the next team pushes them around?