Cal Basketball: Bears Seek `Huge Response' When Arizona State Visits

Golden Bears outscored Arizona in the second half after falling behind by 31 points.

Cal coach Mark Madsen says he's looking for “a huge response” from his Golden Bears when they close out the opening weekend of the Pac-12 schedule with a New Year’s Eve matchup vs. Arizona State at Haas Pavilion.

Tipoff is 5 p.m.

The Bears (4-8, 0-1 Pac-12) fell behind by as many as 31 points in the first half against No. 4 Arizona on Friday night before coming to life over the final 20 minutes.

It didn’t change the bottom line — Arizona won 100-81 — but Madsen saw fight in his team.

“I’d like to see our team come out in the first half with the same energy, effort and enthusiasm we had in the second half tonight,” he said.

Arizona surely was a game of two halves:

Cal was outscored 54-26 in the first half, when they shot 26 percent from the field, including 2 for 14 from the 3-point arc. Jaylon Tyson scored just three points in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 1 of 7 shots, and Jalen Celestine managed just two points.

The Bears got no closer than 19 points in the second half but they outscored the Wildcats 55-46, shooting 56 percent from the field. Tyson had 19 points and 10 rebounds over the final 20 minutes and Celestine added 12 points.

“I was proud of how the guys responded in the second half,” Madsen said. “We put two halves together like that, we’re going to be the team we want to become.”

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd wasn’t sure if his team had a second-half letdown but he was impressed by what he saw from the Bears.

“Coach Madsen, he's a great coach. He really is,” Lloyd said. “So you knew his team was going to respond at halftime and they came out and they played much harder.

“They got more much more aggressive getting downhill. I don't know if we lacked some effort or energy, that maybe happens in those scenarios. Not that it's acceptable, but human nature is a powerful thing and on both sides. So hey, I'm giving Cal credit for playing a really good second half.”

Madsen is not looking for moral victories, but getting a split of games this weekend is now the best Cal can do.

“We have lofty goals in this program. Obviously, we were shooting for a sweep,” he said. “That didn’t happen. So now we’re going to regroup. We’re going to come in and have a phenomenal practice and come ready to play a very talented Arizona State team.”

ASU (7-5, 1-0) rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 5 minutes to beat Stanford 76-73, snapping a three-game losing streak.

The Sun Devils got a boost from junior guard Adam Miller, who scored 13 points in just his third game since becoming eligible as a two-time transfer. Miller previous played for Illinois and LSU.

Junior guard Frankie Collins does a little bit of everything for the Sun Devils, averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and a conference-leading 2.7 steals. 

Cover photo of Cal's Jaylon Tyson working against Arizona defender Pelle Larsson by Darren Yamashita, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo