This was supposed to be a drama-free game; the improving Bears returning home to face the last place and winless-on-the-road Oregon State Beavers. Alas, Cal cannot have a stress free game outside of Tempe.
It did not start out well for the Golden Bears. Both teams started out of rhythm before OSU started hitting from deep. Back-to-back 3 pointers gave OSU an early 13-5 lead at the 15-minute mark. While OSU started 3-of-3, Cal started 0-of-4 from deep.
Cal was sloppy on offense. At the 12-minute mark, Cal already had 4 turnovers which led to 7 OSU points.
OSU pushed their lead to 11 points, though the Cal offense was able to finally find some rhythm and had back-to-back 3 pointers from Celestine and Kennedy. At the 8-minute timeout, OSU led 29-20.
Cal’s sloppy play continued. There were occasional flashes, like Aimaq’s back-to-back 3 pointers to cut it to 38-31 at the 3-minute mark. OSU continued to answer. Madsen switches to a zone defense, but the Beavers continued to find the soft spot and make the shots.
In OSU's 83-80 win over Arizona in January, the Beavers shot 12-of-20 from 3, overall 56% for the game.
Tonight in the first half vs Cal, OSU was 7 of 12 from deep, shooting 54% overall. When OSU wins, this is how they’ve done it.
The Beavers led 43-34 at the half.
Cal came out with more energy in the second half. Keonte Kennedy hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 5, but OSU would respond with a basket-and-foul by Jordan Pope to maintain an 8-point lead, 50-42 as the game hit the 16-minute mark.
Jalen Celestine has a knack for stringing together 6-to-8 point runs in crucial moments of games. He did it in the OT win last week in Seattle to secure the win. He did it in the home victory over USC after Tyson went out with leg cramps. He did it tonight when Cal needed a lift. 2 free throws were followed by 2 steals and slam dunk finishes by Celestine. What was a 50-42 OSU lead was suddenly a 50-48 lead in less than a minute.
OSU responded with a 9-3 run to push the lead back up to 59-51 at the 12-minute mark. Every time Cal makes a move, OSU was able to respond. OSU’s Jordan Pope is winning the one-on-one battle on Jalen Cone, as he is leading all scorers with 16 points. It got chippy between Pope and Cone, with both players mouthing off to each other.
Cal was finally able to turn the corner. Grant Newell hit a 3 coming out of the media timeout. Fardaws Aimaq followed that up with a breakaway layup, and Jalen Cone hit a long range 3. The game was tied 59-all at the 10 minute mark. Hass Pavilion was coming alive.
Once again, OSU responded. Jordan Pope hit a long range 3 to quiet the crowd. Cal grabbed a 66-64 lead after a Jalen Cone 3, but Jordan Pope (who else) answered with a midrange jumper. It was 66-66 with just under 7 minutes left.
Once again, OSU responded. The Beavers scored 5 straight points to quiet the crowd. They extended their defense to full court to slow down the Bears. It didn’t work. Jalen Celestine hit a 3-pointer, and Jalen Cone would make a couple free throws to once again tie it up at 71-all.
Jalen Celestine, hit his second 3-pointer of the half, giving Cal a 74-71 lead with 3:24 left.
Jalen Cone hit a 3 to push the lead to 6. OSU was able to get a basket, but a Fardaws Aimaq short bucket with 20 seconds left gave Cal a 6-point lead, and Aimaq converted 2 late free throws, as Cal won 81-73.
Jaylon Tyson had on off scoring night, finishing with only 7 points on 3-of-15 shooting. He was scoreless in the second half. When the defense collapsed on him, he continued to find the open player, as he finished with 5 assists and only 2 turnovers.
Jalen Cone was scoreless in the first half, but scored all 17 of his points in the second half. After starting 0-of-4 from three, he finished on a 5-of-7 streak. Jalen Celestine had 3 first half points, and 12 second half points. Fardaws Aimaq led the game with 11 rebounds and 21 points.
Cal’s 16 3-pointers made ties the school record of 3-point makes in a game. It has occurred twice previously. The most recent occurrence was last season’s 92-70 home victory over Stanford.
OSU’s Jordan Pope led all scorers with 23 points. After halftime, OSU was only 3-of-13 from 3-point range.
Cal’s last home game of the season is this Saturday at 4pm against the Oregon Ducks.
When one Jaylon is faltering it’s good that we have two more Jalens as options!
It's astounding how accustomed I've become to large leads meaning nothing. Down or up double digits, I feel absolutely nothing until we're in the final 2 minutes.