Cal MBB Insta-Recap: 70-57, The Bear’s fight hard but fall to UCLA

1ST HALF:

Since Cal made the trip down to LA without Don Coleman, one of the leading scorers, it seemed like this might end up being a tough one to watch. Thankfully the Bear’s decided to prove us wrong. Having played pretty well on the road this season they carried that chip on their shoulder with them into Pauly Pavilion. They started off strong and just past the midway point of the half Cal had taken an 11 point lead! Marcus Lee and Justice Sueing were causing all kinds of havoc for UCLA. With 9:07 left in the first half UCLA’s Thomas Welsh came down awkwardly on his left leg and left the game. Unfortunately, the Bears found themselves in a 4+ minute scoring drought that allowed the Bruins to make their way back into the game and ultimately go up by 7.

2ND HALF:

The Bears traded buckets with the Bruins until they finally broke through and were able to start cutting into their lead. While Darrius McNeill was playing the point, Justice Sueing was orchestrated and finishing. With 15 minutes left in the half, UCLA’s Thomas Welsh checked back in and the Bear’s continued to cut into the deficit, before Sueing hit a 3 to put Cal up by 2. It felt like it was a matter of time until UCLA’s offense sparked, and sure enough, it did. Jaylen Hands had an emphatic dunk that put them up by 10 with less than 5 minutes left to go. Despite a commendable effort and lots of energy from the get-go by Cal, UCLA managed to pull away in the final minutes.

Cal fans, what did you think of tonight's performance?