Bears play very poorly, fall in title game 79-75

Is it disappointing? Sure. Am I frustrated? You bet. But things could be worse. We, Cal fans, have a team to be proud of. Despite the fact that we couldn’t shoot a 3 to save our life, had a much larger team to go against, and overall couldn’t shoot, we were in the game until the bitter end. Barring an epic jip job by the selection committee, we should be in the tournament. This team can do damage there.




The first half was an absolute see-saw, with neither team giving an inch. Cal would have several leads, but could never pull away. Neither could Washington. Cal would not make a field goal in the last 6:20 of the half, but free throws kept them in it. The Huskies would take the lead, 41-37, going into the half.



UW would start out well, extending the lead to 7. Theo and Boykin would cut the deficit to 2, with Robertson getting an And 1. A Robertson jumper would tie it up at 46. Isaiah Thomas would score 6 unanswered later on to bring the lead to 8 with 12 minutes left. A Robertson 3 made the lead 1 at 61-60. Randle and Boykin would combine to make it 64-61 Cal. A Pondexter 2 would make it 77-71, but Randle would respond with a 3 of his own to cut the deficit to 3. Randle would be set to the line for 2, down 3. He would make the first, then miss the second intentionally. He would commit a lane violation, and that was all she wrote. The Bears fell 79-75.



Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher did not play well on the biggest stage. Other then the big 3, he struggled offensively. His 12 points are deceiving; he shot 3-11 and turned it over as many times as he assisted. Christopher was similar; he went 3-11 and scored 11 points. He seemed to have a bit of knee injury.



Jamal Boykin and Theo Robertson were the only Bears to step up on the day. Robertson scored 16 in the first half, and 25 overall. He shot magnificently, going 8-13 and hitting 3 of the team’s 5 3’s. Boykin turned in just as good a performance. He scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, a solid double-double. He shot 9-13 on the night and also played okay defense on the Huskie big men.



The key was plain and simple: poor Bear shooting. The UW defense was fine, sure; but it’s no better than some teams they’ve played. We just couldn’t hit the jumpers we needed to.



Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas turned in solid performances. Pondexter scored 18 points, and shot 6-13. Thomas shot the same rate, and also scored 16. They were the two-man show, with cameos from other players.



There are no other notable scorers for Cal. Other notables for the Huskies are Bryan-Amaning with 9 (all in the second half) and Overton with 10.



Disappointing but not unexpected. We should still be headed to the tournament. Go Bears!