Cal Men's Basketball sends fans into cardiac arrest in win over Miami

A win that feels like a loss in everything but the record book

DJ Campbell on the drive via Cal Athletics

Whew man, that was a heart palpitation filled game for the California Golden Bears, as they took down the Miami Hurricanes 98-94 in overtime. A win is a win in the ACC but the Bears made it harder than it had to be down the stretch against Miami.

The 2024-25 Hurricanes entered with the following accolades:

• 201st in Kenpom (17th out of 18 in the ACC)

• were 0-8 in ACC play entering tonight’s game with a -20.1 scoring margin

• had lost its last 3 games each by 35+ and no longer have Jim Larrañaga at the coaches helm

• dating back to last season, lost 25 of its last 29 games

All of that was working against Miami yet they were the team that was too comfortable against Cal for a majority of the game. Jerod Haase, who served as the analyst on the ESPNU broadcast, noted that the Bears could not get comfortable with how easy the offense was coming to them in the first half and expect Miami to lay down. The tide indeed turned in the second half, and it took a steady backcourt to give Cal the win.

The Bears need to be more physical

Miami had been embarrassed their last three games and were unquestionably fighting for their pride. Without leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic, Cal still had a decisive upper hand but let Miami stick around for far too long. The energy displayed against NC State and Florida State wasn’t all the way there for large portions of the game and it almost came back to bite Cal. Its not to say that the Bears were flat, they just didn’t mark up and make Miami feel them.

The Hurricanes shot over 50% from 3, outworked Cal in late game scenarios, and almost stole a victory that would’ve spelled disaster for the Bears.

Its better to learn lessons in wins and Mark Madsen will undoubtedly enjoy the victory yet still harp on his team to be a lot cleaner in how they operate and execute.

Late game execution

Cal tripped over themselves quite a bit at the end of regulation against Miami. It was already a see-saw affair but the Bears looked ready to escape with a four point lead with eight seconds remaining. Rytis Petraitis proceeded to foul Miami, Cal would split free throws, then the Bears would lose their man and allow the Canes to get off a game tying three point attempt that they would convert.

Postgame Mark Madsen stated the teams intention was to foul Miami but obviously the bigger issue on the play was that someone lost track of Matthew Cleveland, the man trying to will Miami to the win by himself.

Cal converted most of its free throws, going 27/36 from the line but there were some timely misses. All of the little things add up in this type of close game and much like the physicality, Cal needs to continue to execute in clutch situations despite wins.

The backcourt steadies the ship

It would have been easy for nerves to sneak up on Cal considering the type of game they were in and opponent they were facing without their leading scorer. Despite the back and forth, it was the guards in overtime who got Cal over the top and into a 3 game ACC winning streak.

Jeremiah Wilkinson dropped a career high 30 points and is becoming more confident and in control with each passing game. DJ Campbell took over in overtime on both ends of the floor, using his experience to read Miami passing lanes and drive to the basket to earn free throw attempts. Wilkinson and Campbell shot 18/21 from the free throw line, with Cal needing every last one of them to outlast Miami. The freshman was aggressive downhill, shooting 9/12 from inside the arc, taking what the defense gave him.

Additionally, it must’ve been cathartic for Jovan Blacksher Jr, who has been much maligned for his high volume shooting, to play within himself against Miami and bury a clutch triple with less than a minute left in overtime.

Cal needed everyone tonight. It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination. I’m sure as you could probably tell, this game drove me crazy. Despite all that, the Bears have a three game conference winning streak, all of which had clutch elements to them. They’ll need more of it with Andrej Stojakovic returns and with a road game on tap at SMU.