BERKELEY, Calif. — Cal star Matt Bradley didn’t play when the Golden Bears visited Colorado last month. He played against the Buffaloes on Saturday. And like last year’s visit to Berkeley, the Buffs had no answer for him.
Mired in a back-and-forth game played at the Bears’ preferred deliberate pace, CU failed to put together one of the dominant runs that have been a trademark of the Buffs at their best this season. And they failed to slow Bradley. It all ended with the Bears snuffing the Buffs’ recent momentum by sending CU back to Boulder with a 72-61 defeat in a Pac-12 Conference battle at Haas Pavilion.
With USC and UCLA both winning on Saturday, the setback put a significant dent in the Buffs’ drive to chase down the Los Angeles schools for the Pac-12 regular season title. The result also continued a perplexing trend, as the Buffs have defeated some of the league’s most talented teams in USC, Oregon, and Stanford twice. They also have lost to the two teams at the bottom of the standings, Cal and Washington, while also losing to Utah two weeks ago at home after leading by 19 points with less than 9 minutes remaining.
“A tough loss. This one stings,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “It gives us our fifth (league) loss and we’re back in the pack. Thought we had a chance to compete for a championship. We’ve just got to figure out how win our next one. Three of our next four games are against NCAA Tournament teams. We’re actually pretty good against those kinds of teams. The teams at the bottom half of our league, we haven’t been very good.”
Last year, Bradley scored a then-career-high 26 points in Cal’s home win against the Buffs. It was a repeat performance on Saturday, as Bradley went 9-for-17 from the field and 9-for-10 at the free throw line before finishing with a new career-high of 29 points.
Cal led 36-33 at halftime and the Buffs never led during the second half, with the Bears taking a seven-point lead with about 4 minutes remaining. The Buffs twice got within two points down the stretch but couldn’t even the score. Bradley delivered the deciding blow, draining a huge 3-pointer with CU guard Eli Parquet in his face. Bradley then knocked down two free throws with 25.6 seconds left, as the Bears outscored CU 9-2 in the final minute to put the game away.
CU point guard McKinley Wright IV became the first Pac-12 player to record at least 1,600 points, 600 assists, and 600 rebounds in his career, but it was a tough shooting night for CU’s point guard (3-for-11) before he finished with 13 points, three assists, and two rebounds.
Both teams shot an even 40 percent but the Bears was outrebounded CU 40-37. After enjoying a hot streak of late from 3-point range, the Buffs went just 1-for-10 from the arc in the second half and finished 3-for-15. CU finished with single-digit assists for only the second time this season, recording a season-low five.
“We got some good looks, but a lot of times the offense was too stagnant,” Wright said. “We threw the ball into the post and did a lot of standing. Coach stressed that to us in the timeouts. Our coaches had a perfect scouting report for us. We just didn’t execute.”
Fast break
What went right: Very little, though the Buffs enjoyed a decent start by shooting 48 percent in the first half.
What went wrong: Take your pick. CU went 3-for-15 on 3-pointers, got outrebounded 40-37, and recorded a season-low five assists.
Star of the gam: Jeriah Horne. The senior forward scored only nine points, but he grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.
What’s next: The Buffs will try to regroup for the two-game trip through Oregon, which begins Thursday against the Ducks (9 p.m. MT, ESPN2)
California 71, Colorado 62
COLORADO (16-5, 10-5 Pac-12)Battey 2-6 5-7 9, Horne 2-5 3-4 8, Parquet 4-5 0-0 10, Wright 3-11 7-8 13, Schwartz 3-10 0-2 6, da Silva 3-5 0-0 6, Daniels 1-3 0-0 2, Walton 2-5 0-0 4, Barthelemy 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 22-54 15-21 62.CALIFORNIA (8-15, 3-13 Pac-12)Anticevich 2-8 0-0 4, Kelly 2-4 1-2 5, Bradley 9-17 9-10 28, Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Celestine 3-5 4-4 13, Foreman 2-5 3-4 8, Betley 2-8 0-0 5, Kuany 1-2 2-4 4, Thiemann 1-2 0-0 2, Hyder 0-2 1-4 1. Totals 22-55 20-28 71.Halftime — California 36-33. 3-point goals — Colorado 3-14 (Parquet 2-3, Horne 1-3, Walton 0-1, Wright 0-2, Schwartz 0-5), California 7-21 (Celestine 3-5, Bradley 2-5, Foreman 1-2, Betley 1-6, Kuany 0-1, Anticevich 0-2). Fouled out — Parquet. Rebounds — Colorado 37 (Horne 12), California 40 (Kelly 10). Assists — Colorado 5 (Wright 3), California 14 (Brown 5). Total fouls — Colorado 19, California 20.
