Men's Basketball: Syracuse Outlasts Cal 107-100 in Double Overtime

Lee Dort's absence is acutely felt as the Orange shoot 70% from inside

With seven games left in the regular season, Cal needs to finish strong to bolster its case for the NCAA Tournament. Today’s game against Syracuse is one of two remaining games for Cal to add a Quad 1 win to their resume. While losing this game would not be a death knell to Cal’s tournament chances, a loss would eliminate any margin of error for the remaining games.

Photo courtesy Cal Athletics

In an even first half, both Cal and Syracuse executed their offense well. John Camden, Chris Bell and Justin Pippen connected on 3-pointers early on to fuel the Bears. With the game tied at 21-21 at the 8-minute mark, Nolan Dorsey and Dejaun Campbell were active in the passing lanes as Cal forced three turnovers over the next few minutes and grabbed a 31-25 lead. Syracuse responded in a similar manner. The Orange forced three straight turnovers, held Cal scoreless for the least three minutes of the half, and tied the game up at 35-35 going into halftime.

A Justin Pippen 3-pointer gave Cal a 47-44 lead near the 15-minute mark. Cal’s shooting went cold as Syracuse went on an 8-0 scoring run to take the lead 52-47, forcing a frustrated Mark Madsen to call timeout with just over twelve minutes left. One of the many ways Lee Dort’s absence is felt is the lack of a rim protector and physical presence at the basket. Syracuse had six dunks in the second half up to this point, each one energizing the Syracuse players and fans.

TT Carr’s two free throws and coast to coast transition layup broke Cal’s scoring drought. Dai Dai Ames scored seven straight points for Cal as the teams traded the lead over the next several minutes. Syracuse held a 65-64 lead at the seven minute mark.

With the score tied 69-69, Chris Bell connected on a transition 3-pointer to give Cal the lead. Syracuse missed three free throws in a row as Cal maintained a 74-73 lead with just under two minutes left.

The lead continued to go back and forth. With Cal leading 76-75, Nate George’s 3-pointer gave Syracuse the 78-76 lead with just under one minute left. Dai Dai Ames responded with a tough driving layup to tie the game at 78-78. Syracuse’s JJ Starling had an unforced travel call to give Cal the ball back with twenty-two second left. Dai Dai Ames was successful throughout the game on his drive and pull-up jumpers. Syracuse’s defense held at the end of regulation, as Ames’ isolation drive and fadeaway missed the mark. On to overtime.

Justin Pippen collected his fifth foul with three minutes left and Cal holding an 80-79 lead. With the game tied 87-87 with forty seconds left, JJ Starling’s driving layup gave Syracuse the lead. Dai Dai Ames’s drove into a mass of big men, and lost control of the ball, giving the ball back to Syracuse with a two point lead and twenty seconds left.

Syracuse made one free throw with ten seconds left, giving them a 2-point lead. With the clock running down, Dai Dai Ames midrange shot was off the mark, but Milos Ilic grabbed the rebound and putback to tie the game 91-91 as the clock expired. On to double overtime.

Cal finally ran out of gas in the second extra period. With Justin Pippen fouled out, Dai Dai Ames carried the entire load for Cal down the stretch. Multiple times he and TT Carr drove the lane but then were stopped by Syracuse’s defense and forced to put up a difficult shot. Syracuse never trailed in the period, pushing the lead to six points with two minutes left, 99-93. The Bears could not get the lead lower than four points as Syracuse closed out the 107-100 win.

All of Cal’s starters scored in double figures, led by Dai Dai Ames’ 23 points and John Camden’s 21 points. Milos Ilic had his best offensive game of the season, scoring 16 points, including the putback to extend the game, to go along with 14 rebounds.

Nate Kingz scored 27 points to lead Syracuse. The Orange struggled from outside, shooting on 6-of-25 from the outside. They more than made up for it on the interior, scoring 62 points in the paint.

Notes and Observations

• It was a back and forth affair throughout, with 28 lead changes. Cal held a lead for twenty four minutes, but could never push the lead to larger than six points.

• Syracuse recorded eight dunks in the second half. Each dunk energized the team and fans, and came at times when Cal had opportunities to put some distance between them and Syracuse.

• This is a game where we can say that Lee Dort’s availability would have led to a win. While Milos Ilic played well on the offensive end, all of Cal’s big men were exposed on defense. Syracuse shot 70% (32-of-46) on the interior, 62 points scored in the paint. Ilic also failed to block out on on a Syracuse free throw late in the game, allowing ‘Cuse to get the rebound and putback. Montas Kocanas and DK Dhut played a combined nine minutes, and still show a lack of court awareness and positioning.

• Chris Bell came into the game 3rd in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 88% while only missing seven free throws all year. Tonight, Bell was 6-of-10, and missed several in the closing minutes of regulation. In such a tight game, every free throw turned out to be crucial.

• Overall, Cal shot 19-of-25 from the free throw line, good enough to maintain their league-leading 78% team free throw shooting. Syracuse was 25-of-42 from the line, bad enough to keep Cal in the game maybe when they shouldn’t have, and maintaining Syracuse’s last place spot in the league’s team free throw percentage.

• Dai Dai Ames is clearly capable of single-handedly winning games (just ask Notre Dame) and hits his midrange shots at a very high rate. Cal ran Ames isolation plays at critical moments multiple times down the stretch. John Camden did not have any set plays for him, relying on Ames dish-and-kick actions that weren’t there. Ames took 25 shots, more than twice as many as Camden and Chris Bell (12 shot attempts each).

• With this 2OT loss, combined with the Women’s 3OT loss at Syracuse last month, the Cal programs have combined for 25 extra playing minutes in upper New York and have come out winless.

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This loss does not exclude Cal from the NCAA Tournament. Cal has two more opportunities against Wake Forest and SMU to accrue resume-building wins. They also have four games against lower-ranked NET opponents to accrue resume-damaging losses. There is no margin of error left, and it may come down to pulling an upset or two come ACC Tournament time.

Cal faces bottom dwelling Boston College at 9am Pacific Time on Saturday. Wake up early and root for the Bears to deliver a nice Valentine’s Day gift to its fans.