Cal Rallies Past Colorado

BERKELEY (AP) – Jaylon Tyson scored 23 of his career-high 30 points in the second half as the California men's basketball team erased a 20-point deficit to defeat Colorado 82-78 in Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night.
 
It was the Golden Bears' largest comeback victory since Feb. 14, 2009 when they trailed by 22 in the first half of an eventual 82-75 win over Stanford in Berkeley. On Wednesday, Cal (6-10, 2-3 Pac-12) trailed 40-20 with 2:09 remaining in the first half and by 14 at the intermission before taking its first lead, 63-62, on a Tyson dunk with 5:38 left in the contest.
 
"We are going to have many more wins that are impressive over skilled opponents. This is the start," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. "I know we're going to hit a pothole or two, but I'll tell you this; we're going to fight, fight, fight every step of the way."
 
Colorado (11-5, 2-3) built a 14-point lead in the first half behind a 15-point effort by Eddie Lampkin Jr, and the Buffaloes were up by 16 points, 52-36 after a J'Vonne Hadley layup with 15 minutes left in the second half. But Colorado went scoreless for almost four minutes while Cal scored 11 unanswered points to start a 20-6 run that pulled the Bears within two, 58-56 with 8:16 left.
 
A 3-pointer by Jalen Cone with 2:32 left put Cal in front for good, 73-70. Tristan da Silva hit a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to get Colorado within one, 77-76, but Tyson hit two free throws, and after Cody Williams' jumper Cone hit the first of two free throws to make it 80-78. Following a missed 3-point attempt by da Silva with four seconds left, Cone iced the game with another pair of free throws to set the final margin.
 
Tyson became the first Cal player with a 30-point game since Jordan Shepherd scored 33 in a 78-64 road win at Oregon on Feb. 12, 2022. The 30-point effort was his fifth consecutive game with 20 points or more, which had not been accomplished since Sean Lampley did so between Jan. 4-13, 2001. Tyson was perfect in the second half, shooting 8 of 8 from the floor – including 2 of 2 from 3-point range – and 5 of 5 at the free throw line on the way to 23 of his 30 points.
 
"Man, JT is special," Cone said. "He's a first-round draft pick — sooner or later people are going to recognize that. He was phenomenal for us. The team came together on the defensive end and on the offensive end he led the way and he didn't disappoint."
 
Cone, who was 4 of 12 from behind the arc, finished with 17 points while Fardaws Aimaq added six points and 10 rebounds. Grant Newell and Jalen Celestine scored eight points apiece.
 
The win earned Cal back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
 
Lampkin finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado and da Silva hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range to add 20 points and six boards. Williams contributed 16 points and KJ Simpson added 12.
 
Cal travels north to face Oregon on Saturday in Eugene. Tipoff from Matthew Knight Arena is at 5 p.m. PST on the Pac-12 Network.

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