Cal Basketball: Juhwan Harris-Dyson Sparks Bears' Defense in OT Win over UNLV

Junior helps Cal disrupt Runnin' Rebels offense in comeback victory

Juhwan Harris-Dyson didn't really have a clear role for the Cal basketball team the past two seasons.

By the looks of things, he has one now.

Harris-Dyson played 21 minutes off the bench Tuesday night, earning his playing time because he provided a defensive impact on a game where neither team seemed interested in the concept in the first half.

A quick and athletic 6-foot-5 wing, Harris-Dyson's claim to fame his first two seasons was shooting 0-for-21 from the 3-point arc. Against UNLV, he did a little bit of everything in the Bears' 79-75 overtime victory at Haas Pavilion.

He finished with five points (including an impressive driving dunk), three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots. And none of those reflected his work on the final, defensive stand of the night.

With Cal up by two points and just 10 seconds left in overtime, UNLV's Elijah Mitrou-Long drove toward the basket. It had been an effective strategy most of the night for the Rebels, who scored 21 baskets on layups, dunks or putbacks. Their three of their overtime field goals - all of them by Mitrou-Long - came on drives to the basket.

Defending the paint and stopping penetration at the point of attack was a major issue the past two seasons on Cal teams that often were helpless defensively. First-year coach Mark Fox said from the day he was hired last spring that defense would be Job 1 with the Bears.

They certainly haven't resolved the issue yet, but with the game on the line, Harris-Dyson and Kareem South converged on Mitrou-Long and caused him to lose the ball out of bounds before getting a shot up. South then closed out the scoring by making a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining.

“He’s just a sparkplug," South said of Harris-Dyson. "Came out, got deflections, got a dunk. He was able to ignite our defense, which turned to defense. Juhwan was a great help to us in our win today.”

Freshman guard Joel Brown, who shot 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and scored 12 points on his 19th birthday, agreed that Harris-Dyson made a difference in his season debut after missing both the exhibition game and the season opener vs. Pepperdine with an injury.

“It was great, just having him out there 100 percent healthy, another athletic body," Brown said. "He was active defensively, worked hard. It’s a great feeling just knowing you have another strong person out there.”

UNLV shot 59 percent in the first half but Cal tightened the bolts down the stretch, holding the visitors to just two points over the final 5:55 of regulation. The Bears' 11-2 closing run erased a 65-56 deficit and forced overtime.

In the video above Fox talks about what Harris-Dyson was able to give the Bears defensively, but he also said everyone needs to assume responsibility at that end of the floor.

"Juhwan impacted the game defensively, most certainly," Fox said. "We all should have an impact on defense. . . . But Juhwan could be a terrific defender, and I thought he was good tonight in the second half."