In the midst of playing five games in 10 days, the Bears have had everything thrown against them. They’ve experienced every type of loss during the stretch, from down-to-the-wire defeats to full-on blowouts. Due to frequent trips to and from Haas Pavilion resulting from quick turnarounds, it’s clear that it is taking a lot more fight for them to get out of it in one piece.
“There is essentially no practice,” said Cal head coach Mark Fox. “It’s just walkthroughs and trying to recover and recharge … we’ve got to figure out who’s healthy and get their bodies to recover and their emotions recharged.”
Fox and company head into the coming week after an 81-57 loss against UCLA and a nail-biting 79-72 defeat to USC. Despite the losses, Cal’s offense showed signs of improvement between the games. After an underwhelming shooting performance in the second half against the Bruins where the team shot 41% from the field — and 29% from downtown overall — the Bears shot 50% from both the field and 3-point range. Cal’s bench also picked up, outscoring USC’s bench 27-13 after dropping 18 points in the game prior.
It wasn’t all roses for Cal’s offense after Saturday’s game, however. Forward Andre Kelly left the game against USC with an apparent leg injury after a fast-break dunk and his status is unknown. Despite the team’s offensive improvement, forward Grant Anticevich continued to struggle with his shot. The 6’9” forward saw only three of his 18 shots go in the basket and he didn’t make a shot in the team’s loss to UCLA.