Cal Outlasts Miami in a Hard-Fought 86-85 Victory

The Golden Bears keep their tournament hopes alive

Image Courtesy of @CalMBBall

The early push of Saturday afternoon’s game between Cal (15 -6, 3-5 in ACC) and Miami (17 - 4, 6 -2 in ACC ) was a back and forth offensive battle between two teams with seemingly similar records, something that is betrayed when you glance at their records in league play. It should be a relief to fans that the Golden bears feasted on non-con opponents, likely keeping them on the bubble of tournament play. Cal has routinely put up a good effort against highly ranked conference opponents, but have failed to seal the deal at a satisfactory clip.

The Golden Bears managed to stay within reach early in the contest, trailing by only 3 points going into the first network timeout, despite shooting 46% from the field to Miami’s 69%, with Chris Bell’s two early hits from beyond the arc bridging that gap for the time being.

Coming out of the time out, Miami’s Donaldson functioned as the group’s de facto second team leader as Shelton Henderson took his first break of the night. Donaldson connected from deep beyond the arc, before Cal went on a 6-0 run for the two minutes that followed, capped off by Justin Pippen grabbing an and-one, bringing the contest even at 22, with Camden drawing more content after a successful defensive effort, giving Cal its first lead since the opening minute, with frequent (successful) trips to the free throw line buffering a higher success rate from behind the arc.

The story of the three in the first half is also a good look into the Bear’s strategy, as they attempted 9 to Miami’s 5 hovering around six minutes remaining in the half. The Cane’s hard driving style running up against a commendable Cal defense that wasn’t rewarding Miami with contact helped the Bears efforts as the game progressed. Instead of drawing fouls, the Canes accrued turnovers, with Cal gaining 9 points of turnover to Miami’s 2 at one point. As Miami regained composure and clawed back into close contention, this differential shrunk, settling at 9-7 at the half.

As the first half closed out, it could be said that Cal had dragged Miami’s shooting down to their level, rather than generally improving as an offensive unit, with the two teams sporting a field goal percentage of 61% and 54%, with Miami’s ten extra points in the paint (24 to Cal’s 14) sticking out as a key factor to the game staying close once Cal settled into their lead. Neither team scored The score at the half showed two teams stuck in each other’s craw, with a one point differential, setting up for a real fight in the second half.

Miami came out of halftime eager to break up a game that featured 6 ties, and gave the match its 7th lead change, before they sent Chris Bell to the line to give the game its 8th, and so it would go until Miami went on a 6-0 tear with around 12:20 left in the second half, unleashing a series of drives that only relented with the media timeout at 10:30, with the Canes sporting a 9 point lead, the largest lead for either team up until that point.

Cal began to stem the tide as the second half wore on, getting to the line, and keeping things within reach, but things drying up from three affected their ability to draw even, compounded by their season-long difficulties getting offensive rebounds, in which many trips down the court resulted in one pass, a missed three, and a dash to get back on defense against a hard driving Miami. A slowly diminishing free throw percentage did not aid their efforts.

What did improve matters for the Bears was a field goal drought from the Canes that stretched out over three minutes, allowing the Bears to bring the game back to a truly competitive place with under five minutes remaining. Dai Dai Ames struggled at times during this game, but turned in a consistent sheet that wouldn’t place enough emphasis on the timing of his two made free throws and corner three made in rapid succession to give Cal their first lead in over nine minutes.

Another quirky but important performance came from Manyiel Dut, who put up 2 points, 2 rebounds, and gave 4 fouls in 7 overall minutes of play. His sole basket came from a crucial put back that would serve as one of the final nails in the coffin for the Miami Hurricanes. The Bears one point lead was tested after Dorsey uncharacteristically missed two free throws, but fate intervened on the other end, where Shelton Henderson missed a driving layup he’d been making all game. Camden secured the rebound, holding on tightly in the final seconds, an appropriate ending for a gutsy win that is also his best offensive outing as a California Golden bear.