Cal Melts Under Vanderbilt's Defensive Pressure, Falls 85-69

Acting head coach Adam Mazarei on the Bears' 20 turnovers: "We couldn't handle the heat"

Vanderbilt's Grant Huffman drives by Cal's Jovan Blacksher Jr. / Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cal’s first road game and first serious test of the young season went awry almost from the start.

Playing at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night, the Golden Bears never led and repeatedly gave the Commodores easy baskets by committing 20 turnovers in a decisive 85-69 defeat at Nashville, Tenn.

Vandy used 18 steals to create 32 points off turnovers and the Bears had no way to overcome the Commodores’ defensive aggressiveness.

Cal (2-1) had scored double-digit home victories over Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly but was no match for Vandy (3-0), picked last in the Southeastern Conference. 

Cal played the game without head coach Mark Madsen, who remained at home after his wife gave birth to a healthy son, their fifth child. Associate head coach Adam Mazarei, a former Vanderbilt assistant coach, held the reins for Cal as acting head coach.

The Bears trailed 49-31 at halftime after allowing the hosts to outscore them 20-2 off 12 first-half turnovers. Vanderbilt scored 18 points on fastbreaks and totaled 36 points in the paint.

“We couldn’t handle the heat,” Mazarei said. “They dictated everything.”

Cal had coughed up just 21 turnovers total in its first two games, but this was a different level opponent — more like what the Bears will see throughout their upcoming ACC schedule.

“I felt like they punched us first,” Mazarei said. “They ratcheted up the pressure, got into our bodies, they were physical, they were fast, and we just didn’t handle it. 

“We were fundamentally flawed a little bit tonight. They smelled blood and they went after it like a shark. Fundamentally, it’s been a little bit easy in the first two games and when they ratcheted up their energy, we just kind of melted.”

Another turnover to start the second half led to a 3-pointer by Jason Edwards that boosted the Vandy lead to 21 points. Cal finally settled down and chipped away at the huge deficit, climbing within 61-52 on a jumper by BJ Omot with 12:38 left.

But the comeback ended there. Vanderbilt never lost control of the proceedings and stretched its lead back to 20 points with 5 minutes left.

The Bears remain winless in 11 non-conference road games since an 81-59 win at Seattle on Dec. 19, 2017. They also are still without a road victory in eight tries over an SEC opponent. 

Sophomore Andrej Stojakovic led the Bears with 17 points and six rebounds but left the game with 3 minutes left after apparently injuring his right ankle.

BJ Omot added 15 points and six rebounds, DJ Campell scored 12 and Jovan Blacksher had 11 points and four assists.Reserve center Lee Dort, who transferred to Cal from Vandy this past offseason, had 10 rebounds.

The Bears more than held their own on the boards, sculpting a 38-33 rebounding edge against a team that had outrebounded its first two opponents by an average of 19.5.

Cal trailed just 20-18 after two free throws by Stojakovic with 9:50 to play in the half. But the Commodores responded with a 12-0 run that was aided by three Cal turnovers.

Dort briefly stopped the bleeding for Cal when he scored a layup with 7:22 left. But four more turnovers in the final 4 minutes of the half enabled the Commodores to continue stretching their margin.

The Bears outscored Vandy 38-36 in the second half, and Mazarei was pleased with their response. 

“I thought in the second half we did a really good job of adjusting. We got into stuff a lot quicker,” he said. “We were playing so hard — the second half was great, how we fought back. But it was 20 minutes too late.”

Cal returns to action Sunday when it visits former long-time Pac-12 rival USC. The Trojans improved to 3-0 record with a 98-95 win over UT Arlington on Wednesday night.