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Football
BERKELEY – Cal has eight former players on active rosters of teams in the NFL Playoffs including the Green Bay trio of Trevor Davis, Aaron Rodgers and Richard Rodgers, as well as Stephen Anderson (Houston), Marvin Jones (Detroit), LP Ladouceur (Dallas), Alex Mack (Atlanta) and Mitchell Schwartz (Kansas City). Anderson, Mack and Schwartz will all be making their first career playoff appearances. Shane Vereen is also a member of the playoff-bound New York Giants but on injured reserve.
Five former Golden Bears – Anderson, Davis, Jones, Aaron Rodgers and Richard Rodgers – are on rosters of teams that will play in the opening round of the playoffs that begin with the Wild Card Round next Saturday and Sunday, January 7-8.
Rugby
Daly Named Club Player Of The Year
BERKELEY – Former Cal All-American and current San Francisco Golden Gate captain Brendan Daly has been named the 2016 Club Player of the Year in a fan poll hosted by This Is American Rugby.
A 6-5, 245-pound lock for the Bears who arrived in Berkeley from across the Bay at St. Ignatius High School and graduated as a Scholar Athlete from the Haas School of Business in 2013, Daly led the senior SFGG side to the final of the 2016 Pacific Rugby Premiership and has been instrumental in Golden Gate's campaign for the California Cup this winter.
"When you want a leader that leads by example then Daly is your guy," wrote TIAR in its announcement of Daly's award. "He is one of the better players in the country but it's his work rate that pushed SFGG to another PRP final."
Women’s Basketball
Bears Fall To Sun Devils In Double OT Thriller
The No. 21 Bears overcame an 11-point first quarter deficit but the comeback fell short, falling the No. 18 Arizona State 72-62 in double-overtime Sunday afternoon in Tempe. Cal (13-1, 1-1 Pac-12) was outscored 12-2 in the second overtime period, after outscoring the Sun Devils (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) 13-10 in the fourth quarter to force extra time. The loss snaps the Bears' 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in program history.
Junior forward Penina Davidson had a career-high 19 points, going 3-5 from beyond the arc, while sophomore Asha Thomas added 11 points and six assists. Sophie Brunner paced Arizona State with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Quinn Dornstauder also had double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Men’s Basketball
Mullins, Rabb Lead Cal Over ASU, 81-65
BERKELEY (AP) — California coach Cuonzo Martin played a haunch and decided to start Grant Mullins for the first time since late November.
It couldn't have worked out any better for the Golden Bears.
Mullins scored a season-high 20 points to lead four players in double figures and California pulled away late in the second half to beat Arizona State 81-65 on Sunday night.
Ivan Rabb had 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for his sixth double-double of the season despite being in foul trouble. Jabari Bird added 16 points and Sam Singer scored 10 to help the Bears (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12) snap a two-game losing streak.
"I just felt like it was right to put him back in the lineup," Martin said of Mullins, who had come off the bench the previous six games after starting four of his first five. "I didn't think he was playing at the level, didn't have his legs on him, until right now. The other thing with that is for him to get in the lineup and do what he does well. He showed that tonight."