Men's Basketball: Cal Holds Off SMU in a Streaky Battle to Win, 73-69

Pippen goes for 24, Camden goes for 20, and Lee Dort returns as Cal gains its 20th win of the season

Photo by Iris Wang courtesy of Cal Athletics

Cal entered tonight’s game on the bubble of the NCAA tournament, something that’s eluded the squad for a decade. The Golden Bears needed tonight’s W, and will need another victory again on Saturday against Wake Forest to get themselves in proper position to get to the Big Dance, provided they have a decent showing in the ACC tournament and take care of business against Pitt and Georgia Tech as well.

SMU opened the game careless with the ball, and fell behind by five quickly, off the strength of Chris Bell’s shooting. He would go 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from three in the first half, accounting for 15 of the Bear’s 38 first half points, closing out the game with 20 points, three rebounds, and an assist.

SMU’s offense gradually evened out, and their best players, guard Boopie Miller, and Samet Yigitoglu, kept the Mustang’s offense alive for the first half of the first half, with Yigitoglu’s imposing 7’2” frame proved a valuable eraser for his team’s early misfires. Both Cal big men ultimately did a good job containing SMU’s big man, with IIic even grabbing his second three pointer of the year, making him 50% from behind the arc.

Each team went into halftime with 18 points from their bench, with Cal having the slight edge on rebounding, and seven fast break points to SMU’s zero, underlining the defensive performance. The Bears garnered six steals in the first half, which is their game-average this season.

Cal’s defense received a spark just a few minutes into the first half, when Lee Dort subbed in to make his first appearance since his exit during a 77-68 victory over Stanford in late January.

Dai Dai Ames struggled offensively, going 1-7 in the first half, but the timing of his point, following a massive Dort block, raised the volume in the barn and got the sometimes-streaky Bears going on a slight tear headed into the half.

SMU’s defense struggled to adjust to their shift from man to zone coming out of the half, allowing for some early quick baskets for the Bears. The Mustangs remained resilient, and the defensive shift began to prove effective, gaining their first lead of the game with just under 14 minutes left in the second half. Some of this could be credited to Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen being a combined 4-19 up to that point, while SMU went on a 11-0 run that took up over four minutes of clock. SMU were lethargic putting up points of their own during this stretch, only growing the lead to five before Pippen finally broke the curse.

Once Justin Pippen broke the nearly five minute scoring drought, he quickly followed up with a baseline layup and a three. Though the ‘Stangs would be sent to the line in two consecutive possessions, it amounted to zero points. SMU would finish the night shooting 42% from the line to Cal’s 80%.This was lucky, as Cal garnered 13 team fouls in the second half, with the Bears reaching the penalty with around ten minutes left in the game.

Pippen recorded his 23rd double digit scoring effort out of 26 games played with the Bears tonight. Leading the Bears in scoring with 24, he came alive in key moments, along with Lee Dort’s return and strong offensive outings from Chris Bell and John Camden were just enough to stave off a pesky SMU.

Cal went on yet another scoring drought that lasted over three minutes with just over five minutes left in the matchup, leaving them down a point with just under two minutes to play. During this particular fallow stretch SMU made the best of things, going on a 9-0 streak that would only be broken at the line by John Camden.

Down one with a minute thirty to play, Justin Pippen once again connected to give the Bears their own one point lead as time wore down. Coming out of their last time out, the Mustangs failed to score, and fouled Justin Pippen on the other end of the floor, who sunk both.

The referees were on full display during the last minute, and both teams would see the line again, with Jaron Pierre Jr. getting SMU within one point, before another foul brought Pippen to the line once more to bring the leads back to 3, all while only eating three seconds of game clock. SMU’s foul on a rebounding Lee Dort would prove to be the final nail in their coffin, as the returning big man put Cal’s lead out of reach with 2.9 seconds remaining to give Cal the win.