Still Far From a Polished Team, Cal Tops Sac State, Improves to 5-1

Without three injured starters for a second straight game, the Bears struggled to maintain complete control over the Hornets.

Jeremiah Wilkinson completes a dunk / Photo by CK Hicks, Cal Athletics

In their first meeting with Sacramento State since Jason Kidd’s debut at Cal 32 seasons ago, the Golden Bears could have used their Hall of Fame point guard.

Still without three injured players, including starting point floor leader Jovan Blacksher Jr., the Bears rarely found a consistent flow and struggled a bit to close out an 83-77 victory over the Hornets in front of 3,662 fans at Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

Cal led by 15 points with less than 6 minutes left before Sac State clawed back within five in the final 30 seconds. It didn’t help that the Bears missed 13 free throws, including four down the stretch.

Still, second-year coach Mark Madsen’s team improved to 5-1 just two years after the program staggered to an all-time worst 3-29 record. The Bears began last season 2-5.

Andre Stojakovic scored 20 points to lead Cal, freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson had his second straight impactful game with 16 points. 

Rytis Petraitis had 13 points, five assists and three steals, and Mady Sissoko and Joshua Ola-Joseph each scored 10 points. Redshirt freshman forward Spencer Mahoney, a transfer from Washington State, scored his first seven collegiate points and grabbed five rebounds for a team-best plus-19 plus-minus score.

The Bears played their second straight game without three ailing starters, Blacksher, guard DJ Campbell and forward BJ Omot. Those three players combined to provide nearly 36 points per game through the first four outings.

The Hornets (1-4), still without a win over a Division I opponent, got 25 points from 6-foot-10 forward Jacob Holt. They also committed 31 fouls, sending the Bears to the foul line for 39 attempts (they made 26).

The day after Cal’s football team won its fourth straight Big Game, rallying to beat Stanford 24-21, there was little hoopla surrounding this game. Certainly nothing compared with Dec. 1, 1992, Jason Kidd played his first game for the Bears, made his Cal debut with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six steals in an 89-65 victory at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Cal remains at home Wednesday night against Mercyhurst (4-3), a first-year Division I program from Erie, PA in the Northeast Conference. The Lakers lost 82-48 on Sunday at Air Force, a team the Bears defeated 78-69 on Thursday.

Madsen, in the video at the top of the story, was pleased with his team’s effort and tried to minimize the impact of three missing starters. But he knows the Bears could have been cleaner over the final 2 1/2 minutes, when they shot 0 for 3 from the field with a turnover, two missed free throws and a technical foul whistled on Sissoko.

He is very encouraged by the play of Wilkinson, a 6-1 point guard from Powder Springs, GA, whose parents and siblings were at Haas and will remain in the Bay Area this week to celebrate Thanksgiving with their son.

Wilkinson talks in the video below about his growth after scoring 39 points the past two games. Against Sac State, he often powered to the basket, drawing nine fouls.

Mahoney had played just eight minutes in two previous games this season. The Bronx, NY native redshirted as a true freshman last season at WSU after attending four high schools and prep schools in New York, New Jersey and Nevada.

Mahoney talks below about getting his most significant playing time Sunday with 13 minutes off the bench.

The Bears led 36-24 with 5 minutes left in the first half before Sacramento State scrambled back to get within 40-33 at the break. 

The Hornets then outscored Cal 13-5 to open the second half, taking a 46-45 lead after a basket and free throw by Oakland native Julian Vaughns with 15:48 to play.