Cal Loses to Washington on a Shot at the Buzzer

Video of Moses Wood's game-winning 3-pointer to beat the Bears included in this story

Washington's Moses Wood hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Huskies a 77-75 victory over Cal before a crowd of 2,913 on Thursday night in Berkeley.

"Tough way to lose a game at the end," Cal coach Mark Madsen said. 

Alllll the angles pic.twitter.com/xBQWvmc8lN

— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) January 19, 2024

Cal is now 0-7 this season in games decided by three points or fewer or in overtime.

Washington (11-7, 3-4 Pac-12) let an 11-point second-half lead get away, but made the plays in the final seconds to pull out the win.

Cal (6-12, 2-5 Pac-12) trailed 48-37 with 17:13 left in the second half, but the Bears rallied to take a 65-62 lead on Keonte Kennedy's three-pointer with 5:32 remaining. The Bears led by six points when Jaylon Tyson nailed a three-pointer with 2:06 to go, and still held a one-point advantage when Fardaws Aimaq went to the foul line in a one-and-one situation with 23.4 seconds left.

Aimaq, who finished with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, entered the game as a 61% free-throw shooter and he had made two of his three previous foul shots in this game.  But he missed the front end of the one-and-one this time, giving Washington a final chance.

Aimaq saved the Bears for a moment when he blocked a Keion Brooks Jr. shot in the lane with 4.4 seconds left.  But the ball went out of bounds on the baseline with Washington in possession.

The Huskies got the ball to Brooks, their best player, but Brooks made a nice pass to Wood in the corner. Wood was just 1-for-7 on three-pointers at that point as he lofted his shot just beyond Grant Newell's outstretched hand, and it swished through as the buzzer sounded.

"Grant Newell gave a phenomenal contest," Cal's Jalen Cone said. "Wood was off-balance, I think he even fell because he was trying to dodge Grant. Great contest and he made a great shot."

"The guy made a really tough shot," Madsen said. "As a coach I never pin a loss on the last-second play. The game is won and lost through the totality of the game. Obviously, it's very dramatic. It's crushing for us. The other team's elated. But there were other things we did along the way."

Brooks Jr. had 21 points, but did not score in the final 13 minutes. However, it was his pass to Wood that set up the winning shot.

Tyson and Cone had 17 points apiece for Cal, which committed only seven turnovers but was just 13-for-22 from the foul line, including misses on the front end of one-and-ones by Tyson and Aimaq in the final 50 seconds.

"Collectively we cannot shoot 13-for-22 from the free-throw line," Madsen said. "We have to work at it, get better at it.  We didn't lose on the late free-throw misses, but when you add it all up cumulatively over the course of the game we have to shoot better from the free-throw line."

Meanwhile, Washington was 15-for-16 from the foul line.  Washington also collected 15 offensive rebounds, which is why the Huskies had 11 more field-goal attempts than Cal.

"They killed us on the glass," Madsen said.

The loss leaves Cal tied for 10th place in the Pac-12 standings, ahead of only Oregon State.  Cal hosts Washington State on Saturday.

Brooks scored 16 points in the first half, which ended with Washington holding a 40-35 lead.

The Huskies missed their first 10 three-point shots of the game and finished the half 3-for-15 from long range. But Anthony Holland’s three-pointer from the corner with three seconds left in the half provided Washington with the five-point cushion.

Tyson had 13 first-half points for Cal, which led by as many as six points midway through the first half. The Bears shot 41.4% in the first half and were 3-for-12 from long range. Cal committed just four turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Cover photo of Jaylon Tyson by Kelley L Cox, KLC fotos

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