Cal has 26-point lead erased before beating UC San Diego 71-67
BERKELEY, Calif. -- — Fardaws Aimaq had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Jalen Cone scored 15 points on five 3-pointers and Cal had a 26-point lead erased before beating UC San Diego 71-67 on Wednesday.
Cal and UC San Diego met for the third consecutive season, with the Tritons winning the past two matchups.
Aimaq threw down an alley-oop dunk, off a nice pass by Jaylon Tyson, to give Cal a 65-61 lead. Emmanuel Tshimanga made two free throws for UCSD, but Jalen Celestine answered with a 3-pointer for a five-point lead.
Tshimanga made two more free throws and Cal turned it over, leading to Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones' layup to get UCSD within 68-67 with 22 seconds left. Keonte Kennedy hit two free throws for Cal — which started the game going 6 of 14 from the stripe — for a 70-67 lead.
Tyler McGhie was short on a 3-pointer for UCSD and Celestine sealed it by making 1 of 2 free throws.
Tyson came off the bench to score 13 points for California (4-7). Celestine scored 12 and Kennedy had 10 points, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Cal scored the opening 10 points of the game and extended its lead to 21-2. The Golden Bears also went on a 9-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 34-8.
UC San Diego scored 21 of the first 27 points of the second half to get within 50-48. Cal went without a point for over five minutes, missing six straight shots, during UCSD’s 14-0 run.
UCSD took its first lead of the game at 56-55 on Bryce Pope’s deep 3-pointer with 8:55 remaining, erasing Cal’s 26-point advantage.
McGhie had 20 points and five 3-pointers for UC San Diego (6-6). Pope added 14 points.
Six of UC San Diego’s seven field goals in the first half were from behind the 3-point arc. The Tritons shot just 25% from the field, while Cal went 18 of 30 (60%).
Cal, which concluded its noncoference schedule, will open Pac-12 Conference play against No. 4 Arizona on Dec. 29. The Bears were coming off an 88-78 loss to hot-shooting Ole Miss in San Antonio last Saturday.
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Game Information
- Referees:
- Mike Scyphers
- Frank Harvey
- Randy Richardson
2024-25 Big West Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
UC Irvine | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
Cal State Northridge | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
Hawai'i | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
UC Santa Barbara | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
UC San Diego | 0-0 | - | 5-2 |
UC Davis | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
Cal State Bakersfield | 0-0 | - | 4-3 |
UC Riverside | 0-0 | - | 4-3 |
Cal Poly | 0-0 | - | 3-4 |
Cal State Fullerton | 0-0 | - | 1-5 |
Long Beach State | 0-0 | - | 1-5 |
2024-25 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Stanford | 0-0 | - | 6-0 |
NC State | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
Florida State | 0-0 | - | 6-1 |
Pittsburgh | 0-0 | - | 6-1 |
Wake Forest | 0-0 | - | 6-1 |
California | 0-0 | - | 5-1 |
Boston College | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
Clemson | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
Duke | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
Notre Dame | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
Louisville | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
North Carolina | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
SMU | 0-0 | - | 4-2 |
Syracuse | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
Virginia | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
Virginia Tech | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
Miami | 0-0 | - | 3-3 |
Georgia Tech | 0-0 | - | 2-3 |