Cal men’s basketball starts slow, finishes strong in rout of Cal Poly, 72-52

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Patrick Chong/Staff

Despite taking almost the entire game to build a comfortable lead against Cal Poly (2-2), the Cal men’s basketball team (4-1) downed the Mustangs, who just started a ten-game road trip, at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night.

In their first game back from competing in the 2K Classic in Madison Square Garden, Cal notched its fourth win of the year in what became a 72-52 rout of Cal Poly. The Bears outscored the Mustangs 41-18 in the second half after floundering on offense for much of the game.

One of the biggest questions heading into Wednesday’s contest was how the trip back from New York would impact coach Cuonzo Martin’s team. Martin admitted that the long flight may have contributed to the team’s sluggishness in the first half, combined with Cal Poly’s defense, which ranks 30th nationally in opponent field goal percentage.

“Now that the game is over, I think the slow part was probably the transition back from New York,” Martin said. “Even in practice guys were a step slow. The day off was actually the flight home.”

After scrambling to find an offensive tempo to begin the game, the Bears went on an 11-1 run with five minutes left in the first half to create a cushion before the buzzer. Cal entered halftime with a 31-24 lead after shooting an even 50% from the field, with forward David Kravish and guards Tyrone Wallace and Jordan Mathews leading the team with 7 points apiece.

Cal’s Achilles Heel at the moment may be the lack of production from their bench. The Bears’ second unit only contributed four of the 72 total points, all in the first half.

“You watch (Cal Poly) on film and they really force you to make plays. You’ve got to execute your offense. They really took us out of our rhythm in the first half,” Martin said.

The Bears also started slowly in the opening minutes of the second half, failing to notch a field goal until a Jabari Bird sunk a jumper after more than two minutes of play. Cal struggled to build and maintain a lead through the second period until back-to-back dunks from forward Christian Behrens brought the score to 52-41, giving the Bears their largest lead of the contest. Behrens, who finished with 9 rebounds and 9 points, had one of his best games of the year.

“I’m feeling real good, real healthy,” Behrens said. “I’m just able to go out there and play. It’s been fun. Coach has a lot of confidence in me.”

The Mustangs’ biggest obstacle may have been Cal’s size advantage. The tallest player on Cal Poly’s roster, 6’9” forward Brian Bennett, finished with a team-high 16 points, but the height disadvantage limited the Mustangs’ ability to work in the low post and resulted in no player being able to consistently guard Tyrone Wallace. Wallace ultimately finished with 16 points, behind 18 and 17 from Bird and Mathews respectively, and 8 boards.

Michelle Lee covers men’s basketball. Contact her at michellelee@dailycal.org.

Read more here: http://www.dailycal.org/2014/11/27/cal-mens-basketball-starts-slow-finishes-strong-rout-cal-poly-72-52/
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