Another Rough Second Half Dooms Cal at Clemson

Bears fall to 0-3 in the ACC despite 30 points from sophomore Andrej Stojakovic

Andrej Stojakovic / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Andrej Stojakovic scored 30 points but Cal faltered in the second half for the second game in a row, falling 80-68 at Clemson in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday night.

The Bears (7-7, 0-3 ACC) trailed 39-36 at halftime and pulled within a point to open the second period. But Clemson (12-3, 4-0) used a 13-6 burst to take control and went on to move into a tie for first with Duke in the ACC standings.

Two nights earlier, Cal led 42-38 at halftime at Pitt before being outscored 48-32 over the final 20 minutes in a 86-74 loss.

Cal has given up at least 80 points in six of its seven defeats.

The Bears will continue pursuit of their first ACC victory next Wednesday at home against Virginia.

Cal never led after 4-2 in the game’s opening moments, but stayed within striking distance until the final 5 of 6 minutes. The Tigers attacked Cal in the paint in the second half, shooting 15 for 17 on 2-point attempts.

“Our guys played incredibly hard,” coach Mark Madsen said. “What we have to correct is we had some miscues defensively where we jumped the 3-point shooters, and it put us into (bad) rotations. When we correct that, we’ll be right there.”

Stojakovic helped keep Cal in the game. The sophomore guard, who entered the game ranked third in the ACC with a 19.1 scoring average, shot 11 for 15 and missed his career high by a single point. This was his seventh 20-point effort of the season.

The Bears got a lift from point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including 3-for-5 accuracy from the 3-point arc to break out of a slump. He shot just 28 percent from the field over the previous six games, including 0 for 12 the past two outings.

“What we told Jovan was this: The worst thing you can do is stop shooting and stop being aggressive,” Madsen said. “He’s been playing very unselfishly and Jovan’s been making everyone around him better. 

“Every player goes through tough shooting spells. Jovan’s a phenomenal shooter. I’m not worried about his shot at all.”

Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson entered the game as the nation’s highest-scoring freshman (12.7 points) who has not started a game. He came off the bench again, scoring 11 points.

Forward Ian Schieffelin led the Tigers with 21 points and guard Chase Hunter scored 19. 

Stojajovic capped a 17-point first half by banking in a 27-foot, 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired, pulling the Bears within 39-36. Cal had an inbounds play with 2.3 seconds left and Rytis Petraitis found Stojakovic, who got the shot off despite the presence of two defenders.

Wilkinson hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left in the half and the two threes enabled the Bears to erase two-thirds of a nine-point Clemson lead.

Stojakovic, attacking the basket, was 7 for 9 from the field in the half, five of his baskets coming in the the paint, where Cal outscored Clemson 24-14 over the first 20 minutes. 

Wilkinson added eight points off the bench as those two combined to shoot 10 for 13 in the period. The rest of the Bears were 5 for 18 through 20 minutes.

Clemson led much of the half, thanks to six different players combining to convert 7 of 11 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Bears, who were not outrebounded in any of their first 10 games this season, were on the short end of a 32-22 margin on the boards, the fourth game in a row they lost that battle.

Cal outscored Clemson 19-12 in points off turnovers. The Bears had just six giveaways, only two in the first half.