Bears Narrowly Lose To Utah, 76-75
BERKELEY – California battled Utah to the final second, but the Utes emerged with a narrow 76-75 victory Thursday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.
Down 75-68 with 45 seconds left, the Bears got within two at 76-74 on a Matt Bradley runner with six seconds to go. Cal stole the inbounds pass, and when Bradley missed a 3-pointer, Andre Kelly grabbed the rebound and was fouled trying for a put-back 0.7 seconds on the clock. However, he missed the front end of the two-shot opportunity, ending Cal's comeback bid.
Bradley paced the Bears with 20 points, while Grant Anticevich added 18 – more than he had totaled in his past four games combined. Kelly also had a good bounce-back game after a 3-for-12 outing at Stanford, finishing with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor. In addition, Makale Foreman reached double figures with 12 points for his first double-digit game since he had 12 at Utah on Jan. 16.
Timmy Allen led the Utes with 18 points, 14 of which game in the first half. Utah also capitalized on Cal's mistakes with the ball, scoring 20 points off 14 Bear turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal and Utah engaged in a close battle through the early portion of the contest with several lead changes. After the Utes built a six-point advantage, the Bears responded with seven in a row of their own, capped by a Foreman 3-pointer to take a 31-30 lead. However, Utah reeled off eight in a row over the next two-and-a-half minutes and ended the half on a 12-1 run and a 42-32 advantage.
Cal came out of the break quickly, scoring seven straight points with four from Kelly and a 3-point from Anticevich. And when Foreman drilled another 3-pointer a few minutes later, the Bears had tied the score at 50-all. Bradley eventually put Cal in front, 57-55, when he completed a three-point play with 8:48 remaining. The Utes, though, went back ahead behind a 6-0 spurt and did just enough down the stretch to escape with the win.
UP NEXT
Cal closes out its two-game home stand when it hosts Colorado at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Haas Pavilion. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal men's basketball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMBBall), Instagram (@CalMBBball) and Facebook (/CalMBBall/).