Early on, the Texas State Bobcats employed a full court press, trap style defense that sent California Golden Bears into a doozy. Devin Askew would be called for a 10 second violation and would be forced to call a timeout within the first four minutes of the game, a signal for the Bears lack of preparation for the Bobcats defense.

Texas State lost in Pullman by a final score of 83-61 to Washington State, but had a solid road win at Rhode Island and a hard fought loss at UTSA. Cal had lost to UC San Diego and Southern in recent games, and the Sun Belt represented Bobcats wouldn’t give the Bears a break.

In this game, the Bears improved their three point defense, forcing the Bobcats into 5-19 (26%) from beyond the arc, a far cry from UC San Diego and Southern. However, Tyrel Morgan was relentless for the Bobcats, wreaking havoc on the offensive glass, going for 9 points and 9 boards, four of which were on the offensive glass. Mason Harrell led the half court offensive attack for Texas State, going for 21 points on 6-15 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line. His poise was on full display as he, Morgan, and Tuongthach Gatkek led the charge in Haas Pavilion.

Cal waited too long to wake up from their slumber. I am not going to belabor the point. They are not talented enough nor coached well enough to afford digging themselves into holes (Texas State went ahead by 11 at one point) like this. Yes, the guard depth is basically at zero right now. Mark Fox said Jarred Hyder is now out for the year, on top of Jalen Celestine out due to surgery, Marsalis Roberson in a boot but sometimes that’s just how the dominoes fall. You have to maximize what you have and it’s not happening right now. With 8 seconds left, Mark Fox drew up a baseball pass when the Bears were down three. You don’t need to do that. Needless to say, it didn’t work and the Bears lost the game.

Devin Askew had 17 points and 6 rebounds for the Bears, while Lars Thiemann netted 15 points and 11 rebounds. Monty Bowser was a bright spot, getting 9 points off the bench with three three’s. Texas State only committed 7 turnovers, while Cal had 16. The Bobcats had 14 offensive rebounds and for a team that’s so much smaller than them, that’s unacceptable from the Bears. Tyrel Morgan was the MVP for the Bobcats, but at some point you just need to put a body on a body.

Cal is 0-5. This is who they are. Let’s hear your thoughts.