Cal Bears Lose Heartbreaker in OT to Utah, Eliminated from Pac-12 Tournament

In the semi-finals of the Pac-12 Tournament, the Cal Bears fall in a heartbreaker to the Utah Utes in overtime.

The second semi-final game on Friday night pitted two of the hottest teams in the land against one another. The Cal Bears entered with nine wins in their last 10 games, while the Utah Utes entered with eight straight wins, the second-longest streak in the nation. With the teams splitting the regular season series at a game apiece, their series would be decided with a Pac-12 Championship game berth on the line. In another highly-competitive game between two tough Pac-12 teams, the Utes outlasted the Bears to cross the finish line with a win.

Utah controlled the opening tip, and Pac-12 Player of the Year Jakob Poeltl wasted no time putting his stamp on the game. He scored the first five points for the Utes, and his teammates around him helped open up a quick lead for Utah. Just three minutes and 36 seconds into the game, Utah found themselves with a double-digit advantage and Bears’ head coach Cuonzo Martin needed a timeout.

Freshman Ivan Rabb was the primary threat on offense early for Cal. After a career-night against Oregon State on Thursday, during which he scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Rabb scored six of the team’s first eight points, including two baskets right out of the timeout. Those baskets started Cal on a 10-0 run for the Bears, capped off by a Jordan Mathews three-ball, to tie the game in the blink of an eye. After a Chris Reyes free throw snapped a four-and-a-half minute scoreless streak to put the Utes back ahead, Tyrone Wallace hit a runner on the other end, giving Cal their first advantage of the evening.

In the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Runnin’ Utes and the Golden Bears traded the lead nine times with neither side forging ahead by more than four points. Cal was able to finish the half by scoring the last five points, taking a 37-33 lead into the locker room, led by a game-high 13 points from the senior Wallace.

The second half started a bit sluggishly, but soon enough the lead-trading began again. At about five minutes in, Utah took a 42-41 lead, but it was short-livd as Mathews drained another three immediately on the other end to reverse the score. Cal’s lead would eventually open up to seven, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t put any real distance between themselves and their opponents as the Utes closed to within a point just a few minutes later.

More from Golden Gate Sports

After trading baskets for a few minutes, the Utes tied the game with 49.1 seconds on the clock, as Poeltl scored a lay-in while getting fouled. He hit his free throw, putting Utah back in front for the first time in over 13 minutes of action. The Bears called timeout, and on the ensuing possession, found themselves back in front on a mid-range jumper from Jabari Bird.

When Poeltl missed on the other end, Utah found a way to keep the loose ball, and Brandon Taylor gave Utah another lead after he hit two free throws. With 10 seconds left, Jaylen Brown drove hard to the hoop, but missed everything. Again it was Bird in the right place at the right time, as he grabbed the offensive board and put it back while being fouled. After he made the free throw, Cal owned a 70-68 lead with 4.3 seconds to go. On the inbound, Lorenzo Boham took the ball and went coast-to-coast to hit a layup, just barely beating the buzzer to tie the game and send the game into overtime.

Utah opened the scoring in the extra period, getting a hoop from Poeltl to jump in front again. A Poeltl free throw on the next possession put the Utes up by three in the first two minutes of overtime. The lead eventually moved up to four, and when Bonham made a free throw, the lead became five with under a minute to play. Rabb and Utah’s Kyle Kuzma traded twos, and Wallace sank a three to make it a two-point game again. With 5.9 seconds, Jordan Loveridge hit a pair of free throws, putting a dagger in any Cal comeback hopes. Utah claimed the victory 82-78.

Wallace led the way for the Bears, matching his second-best career scoring output with 26 points while also pulling down six boards. Rabb and Bird each scored 13, and Jordan Mathews added 11, his fifth straight game with double-figures off the bench.

More from Cal Bears

For the fourth straight game, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jaylen Brown could not find a rhythm. He scored 12 points, but hit just three of his 17 field goal attempts. Over the past four games, Brown has shot just 21.4 percent and averaged 8.8 points per.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Jakob Poeltl looked like the Pac-12 Player of the Year. He scored 29 points, three shy of matching his best of the season, while hitting 10 of his 18 shot attempts. Along with 11 rebounds, he came up huge at the free throw line, making nine of 12 shots.

In the tournament championship, Utah will face the Oregon Ducks, who avenged last year’s Tournament championship game blowout loss to the Arizona Wildcats with a hard-fought 95-89 win took that also an overtime period to decide. Oregon will be on the hunt for their fourth Conference Tournament championship, and first since 2013. Utah is in the conference tournament championship game for the first time since joining the conference five years ago.

Oregon, playing on the third straight day, could potentially be with two key contributors at less than 100 percent. Senior forwards Dwayne Benjamin and Elgin Cook both suffered ankle injuries, but both were on the floor at the end of the game. Cook remained in the game the rest of the way, but Benjamin went back to the locker room for a long time before checking back in in overtime. Despite being in visible pain, Benjamin drained a big three-pointer and two clutch free throws late in the extra period. With a quick turnaround for the championship game, these two young men won’t have a lot of time to heal up.

Next: Cal Holds Off OSU to advance to semis

For the Bears, they have to wait until Sunday to find out their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Unless something crazy happens, Cal’s berth in the tournament is all but guaranteed, and they could find themselves with anything from a three seed to a seven seed.

Home/Cal Bears