Cal Closes Exhibition Slate With 74-52 Win Over CSUSM

BERKELEY, Calif. – Junior Tyrone Wallace and sophomore Jabari Bird logged 13 points apiece as the California men’s basketball team closed out its exhibition slate with a 74-52 win over Cal State San Marcos on Thursday night at Haas Pavilion.

Wallace, who added five assists to his performance, and Bird led a quartet of Bears in double figures. Sophomore Jordan Mathews recorded 12 points, four assists and just as many rebounds, while graduate student Dwight Tarwater chipped in 10 points of his own. Redshirt junior Christian Behrens tallied nine points, sophomore Sam Singer logged five while senior David Kravish, sophomore Roger Moute a Bidias and freshmen Kingsley Okoroh and Nick Hamilton registered 12 points, collectively.

Behrens opened the scoring in the first half and the Bears held CSUSM to just one bucket on its first seven shots. Cal built a 9-3 advantage through the first four minutes of action, but the Cougars held close behind and cut the deficit to four points by the eighth minute. 

With 7:57 left in the first frame, a jumper from Kravish triggered a 12-2 surge, to push the Golden Bears ahead, 29-12. Prior to the final media timeout of the half, Wallace and Moute a Bidias threw down back-to-back dunks that brought Cal fans to their feet.

The Cougars broke the Bears run with a pair of free throws and a trey, but Cal entered the break with a 35-20 advantage.

The Bears returned to the court and immediately drained their first two shots of the frame. CSUSM collected a free throw and a layup to come within 16, but that is the closest the Cougars would come for the remainder of the contest.

Leading 48-30 with 12:38 on the clock, Cal strung together a 12-0 run for a 30-point edge. The Cougars landed four 3-pointers down the stretch, but the Bears closed out the competition, 74-52.

For the game, Cal shot 49 percent (28-57) from the floor, 35 percent (7-20) from 3-point range and 69 percent (11-16) from the charity stripe. CSUSM connected on 36 percent (19-53) of its shots, including 44 percent (8-18) from beyond the arc and 67 percent (6-9) from the free-throw line. The Bears won the rebounding battle, 36-29. 

The Bears return to the court on Friday, Nov. 14, when they tip off their regular season against Alcorn State at 7 p.m. The game marks the first contest of the 2K Classic at Haas Pavilion.