Cal Rolls Past Arizona State, 74-50

BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team picked up where it left off in 2021 and opened the new year with a thorough 74-50 win over Arizona State at Haas Pavilion on Sunday.
 
Coming off of a 10-day layoff, the Golden Bears (9-5, 2-1 Pac-12) ran away with their fifth straight win and ninth in a row at home. The 24-point margin marked Cal's biggest in a Pac-12 victory since defeating Oregon State 76-46 on Feb. 24, 2017.
 
Jordan Shepherd led three Bears in double figures with 16 points while Grant Anticevich (10 points, 10 rebounds) recorded his fifth double-double of the season. Andre Kelly added 13 points. Ten of the 11 Bears who saw the floor scored, and eight connected on at least one 3-pointer.
 
Cal's defense was a catalyst yet again in Sunday's win, as the Sun Devils' (5-8, 1-2) 50 points were the second-fewest by an opponent this season. It was the fifth straight contest that Cal has held its opponent to 60 points or less. Arizona State shot just 33 percent (19-58) from the floor and 18 percent (3-17) from behind the arc.
 
"I thought our defense was terrific in the first half and we complimented that with really disciplined shot selection, and that yielded seven (3-pointers) in the first half," Cal head coach Mark Fox said. "I don't think we gave up any (3-pointers in the first half), so that was really key."
 
The Bears, who never trailed in the contest, knocked down seven of their nine 3-pointers in the first half and raced out to a 41-23 advantage by halftime. Multiple first-half spurts – 8-0, 12-1 and 10-0 – allowed Cal to extend its lead to as many as 20 points late in the first half. Shepherd poured in eight of his 16 in the first half while Kelly and Jalen Celestine had seven apiece.
 
Cal's lead never fell below 14 in the second half. The Bears finished the game 27-53 (50.9 percent) from the field.
 
Arizona State's DJ Horne scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Sun Devils.
 
The two teams rescheduled their Jan. 19 contest to Sunday after both teams' original opponents were unavailable to play this weekend due to COVID-19 protocols. Cal had originally been scheduled to play Sunday at Stanford, while the Sun Devils were originally slated for road games on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 at USC and UCLA.
 
Cal snapped a seven-game losing skid to Arizona State with Sunday's win and will meet the Sun Devils again in Tempe March 3.
 
UP NEXT
Cal wraps up a seven-game homestand by hosting USC (Thursday, Jan. 6, 8 p.m. PT) and UCLA (Saturday Jan. 8, 5 p.m. PT) in Haas Pavilion.
 
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