Cal Basketball: Bears Beat Trojans in Overtime Before Full House at Haas Pavilion
LeBron James made an appearance at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night but the headline was authored by everyone else in the building: Cal’s first sellout in more than seven years.
LeBron was on hand to watch his son, USC freshman Bronny James.
Most of the rest of the announced crowd of 11,801 wildly cheered for the Bears, who led by as many as 16 points before securing an 83-77 victory in overtime.
“To play in front of LeBron is a blessing. That was big-time that we won in front of him," said Cal guard Jaylon Tyson, who scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half and overtime. "Obviously, we had a great fan base today — hope we keep that up. The environment and everything that transpired . . . not a lot of people can say they were part of something like that.”
USC fought back, forcing overtime when Isaiah Collier made the first of two free throws for a 67-all score with 27.7 seconds left in regulation. Jalen Cone and Jalen Celestine each hit 3-pointers in the extra period and the Bears converted five of six free throws over the final 32.9 seconds to ice it.
Cal (10-13, 6-6 Pac-12) now has won four times in a span of five conference games for the first time in seven years. The Bears are tied for seventh place in the Pac-12 standings, just one game out of fourth entering Saturday afternoon's matchup against UCLA.
The win snapped the Bears' 11-game losing streak against the Trojans.
USC (9-14, 3-9) lost for the seventh time its past eight games.
Cone, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half, said the crowd was the difference.
“The fans were amazing," he said. "I truthfully believe if it wasn’t for them in that crunch time, we don’t win that game. They gave us energy throughout the whole game.”
On the heels of first-year coach Mark Madsen’s squad drawing 8,710 for a win over Stanford two weeks ago, the Bears announced by late morning they had sold out the joint for the first time since drawing 11,877 on Jan. 29, 2017 against the Cardinal.
Turns out the count was just short of that, but listed as a sellout given the arena’s current capacity. Just a year ago, Cal drew the embarrassing average of 2,155 fans to its home games. Of course, that team was unwatchable.
These Bears had the crowd rocking. Tyson had 11 rebounds to go with his game-high point total, Fardaws Aimaq survived being swarmed and having six shots blocked to put up 15 points, a season-high 20 rebounds and five assists.
Tyson had a key follow-shot dunk in overtime.
Fardaws, who pocketed his 15th double-double of the season, got the last word when he blocked a layup try by USC’s Isaiah Collier with 28 seconds left in overtime and the Bears nursing a three-point lead.
Celestine had 11 points and eight rebounds as the Bears hammered the Trojans 54-27 on the boards.
Madsen talks in the video above about the sellout crowd and the contributions of Tyson, Cone, Aimaq and others.
Cal roared to a 42-31 lead over the Trojans with LeBron sitting on the floor along the baseline adjacent to the USC bench. Coach Andy Enfield must have been wishing he could check him into the game.
A 3-pointer by Celestine and a nifty reverse lay-up by Tyson ratcheted the Bears’ lead to 47-31 barely 2 minutes into the second half.
But Collier — USC’s other freshman and a projected as a first-round NBA draft pick — led a Trojans’ comeback.
Collier had been sidelined for nearly a month with a broken hand but unexpectedly made his return off the bench in this one. The 6-foot-5 point guard was scoreless in nine first-half minutes but was everywhere the rest of the way, assembling 20 points, two steals and three assists.
He converted a pair of free throws with 2:36 left to cap a 13-3 USC run and bring the visitors within 61-60.
Tyson answered with a cold-blooded 3-pointer at 2:17 before Collier made two more free throws for a 64-62 score with 2:11 left.
Cone, quiet the entire second half, then came around a screen and made a 3-pointer from the left corner on an inbounds pass from Keonte Kennedy, pushing the Cal lead back to five points with 1:56 to play.
Boogie Ellis scored on a drive to the basket for the Trojans before Jalen Celestine was whistled for traveling when he slipped on the floor. DJ Rodman then got USC within 67-66 when he scored off a feed from Joshua Morgan with 1:02 left.
Cal had two chances at the rim on its next possession, but neither Tyson nor Aimaq could convert a layup in traffic and Celestine fouled Collier driving to the basket with 27.7 seconds left. He made the first to tie the score, but missed the second.
The Bears ran the clock down before Tyson missed on a tough 3-point try just before the buzzer, forcing overtime.
LeBron James watches his son Bronny from the baseline at Haas Pavilion.
Photo by Kelley L. Cox, KLC fotos
Bronny James was cheered by the crowd during players introductions but was booed pretty much every time he touched the ball once play began. His father, with a Lakers night off, returned to the building for the first time in more than two decades, since playing in a summer-league tournament with the Oakland Soldiers.
Bronny finished with five points on 1-for-5 shooting and five rebounds. Boogie Ellis, who entered the game leading USC in scoring at 17.3 points, was held to eight points on 3-for-9 shooting, with Cone sticking close to him defensively much of the night.
Cal led for much of the first half, trailing for a total of just 69 seconds. The Bears played with energy, moved the ball and found open shots against a USC team that had lost six of its previous seven games.
Cone was a major thorn in the Trojans’ side, posting 14 first-half points and four assists, with 12 of the points coming in a span of 2 minutes, 8 seconds, when he drilled three 3-pointers and three free throws to push the Bears into a 36-25 lead with 5:39 left.
Cover photo of Jalen Cone by Robert Edwards, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
