BERKELEY - Cal had No. 21 USC right where it wanted it for stretches on Thursday night, but the Trojans kept finding another gear and walked out of Haas Pavilion with a 77-65 victory.
The Golden Bears were within three points in the second half before USC stretched the margin and took control late. Cal dropped to 2-2 with the defeat, its second loss to a ranked opponent this season, while USC moved to 3-0.
Cal actually set the tone early. The Bears led for the first 12 minutes, opening with a 7-0 run that included a Sammie Yeanay 3-pointer and building a 9-2 cushion. USC chipped away, though, and after Cal briefly pushed back in front, the Trojans closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 39-30 lead into the break.
By halftime, USC was shooting 38.9 percent from the floor to Cal’s 33.3 percent and had already controlled the glass, 28-18. The Trojans only turned that edge up after the break, finishing at 40.6 percent shooting with six 3-pointers and a 53-36 rebounding advantage. Cal ended the night at 34.8 percent from the field and made four shots from beyond the arc.
The Bears kept hanging around, though. Michael Cooper knocked down a 3-pointer to help Cal regain a 16-12 lead after USC had trimmed the margin to one, and later in the half Cooper scored again before Yeanay’s steal and slam pulled Cal within 32-30. USC answered with the final six points of the half, leaving Cal in a 39-30 hole at the intermission.
In the second half, the Trojans pushed the lead into double digits at 12:40, but Cal answered again. Nojus Indrusaitis drilled a 3-pointer at 8:45 to make it a three-point game, and Yeanay cut it to four with a bucket at 6:40.
Still, the foul count worked against the Bears, and USC used another surge to go up 69-59 with five minutes left. Cal never got closer than eight after that.
Yeanay led Cal with 14 points, and Indrusaitis added 13. USC had four players in double figures, led by Alijah Arena’s 19 points. Rodney Rice scored 18, KJ Lewis finished with 16, and Jacob Cofie posted a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Cal stays at home for a 2 p.m. matchup against Utah Tech on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
In Other News...
Cal Let A Huge Opportunity Slip Against Ranked USC
Cal had a chance to make a statement at Haas Pavilion against 21st-ranked USC, but the Bears could not quite turn a competitive night into a breakthrough. In a 77-65 loss, Sammie Yeanay led Cal with 14 points and Nojus Indrusaitis added 13, while USC got balanced scoring from Alijah Arenas, Rodney Rice and KJ Lewis to keep the pressure on throughout.
The Bears also had to navigate the absence of center Lee Dort because of an ankle injury, leaving them without an important interior presence in a game where every possession mattered. Cal stayed within reach for stretches, but USCs offense found enough answers to keep the Bears from fully cashing in on what had been a big opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Cal's USC Loss Exposed A Frustrating Problem Effort Could Not Fix
The loss to USC at Haas Pavilion left California with a familiar kind of frustration, the sort that does not show up in a single bad stretch but in the small, repeated battles that decide a game. The Golden Bears fought through shooting issues and got efforts from players like Sammie Yeanay and Nojus Indrusaitis, yet they never found enough rhythm to turn that energy into a real push against the Trojans.
What stood out most was the way USC controlled the game around the margins, turning extra possessions into a steady edge Cal could not erase. For a Bears team trying to find consistency, that made the defeat feel bigger than the final score, because the problem was not effort so much as the inability to match the physical details that kept slipping away. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Let USC Take Over In One Brutal Area At Haas
California had enough stretches at Haas Pavilion to stay within reach, but USC controlled the kind of possessions that tend to decide games in February. The Trojans left with a 77-65 win after repeatedly winning the battle for rebounds and loose balls, an edge that Cal head coach Mark Madsen pointed to as a major reason the Bears could not flip the night in their favor. Even as Sammie Yeanay and Nojus Indrusaitis tried to keep the offense moving, Cal never found the efficiency it needed to turn those efforts into a real push.
The frustrating part for the Bears was that the game did not feel out of hand because of one explosive USC run so much as a steady accumulation of second chances and extra possessions. Cal struggled to make enough shots to offset the damage on the glass, and once USC established that physical edge, the Bears were left chasing the scoreboard without much margin for error. For a team trying to build momentum at home, it was the sort of loss that lingers because the fix is obvious even if the answer is not easy. [Read more 🡒]