The Bears move to 3-5 on the season after scoring a season-high 84 points in their win against the Santa Clara Broncos.
A four-game winless streak has come to an end for the Bears as they topped the Santa Clara Broncos in a commanding 84-69 victory. The blue and gold are now at a 3-5 record and have already amounted to last years’ win total.
Cal’s 84 points marked a season-high as four of transfer players reached double-digits and combined for 72 points. The leader of the pack was Jalen Cone with his game-high and season-high 26 points.
“Truthfully, I don’t want to talk about me. When I have guys like this on the court, they make the game easy. It was great having Keonte back … we’re all coming together as a unit and we’re still learning. We still have some more growing to do, but this is a great team, great guys to play around and they for sure make the game easier,” Cone said.
During Cal’s losing streak, Cone had struggled with his three-point shooting, but an array of shooting prompted the fifth-year guard to have his best shooting night as a Bear — scoring seven of his 10 attempts from downtown.
The transfer guard was not alone in his performance as Jaylon Tyson gifted himself a double-doubleon his birthday with 21 points and 11 rebounds on an efficient 8-12 from the field.
However, the limelight remained on Keonte Kennedy in his Cal debut.
“It was all just electrifying to be out there with my teammates again. I feel like I bring that energy, defensive mentality and that's all it was. I got the dunk just from playing hard, getting deflections and just playing for my teammates … I’m back, that's all I got to say,” Kennedy said.
The hyper-athletic 6’5” guard had his fingerprints all over the game. Though Kennedy couldn’t get his shot to go — shooting just 2-10 from the field and 0-4 from deep — he remained aggressive, getting to the line six times and remaining perfect to help him reach double-digits.
The shooting percentages for the sixth-year transfer weren’t ideal, but Kennedy’s nine rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block were more than enough to secure a win in his season debut. Kennedy’s impact went beyond the stats as he brought constant energy, intensity and discipline to both sides of the ball.
“(Kennedy) brings so much energy. The ‘Haas of Pain,’ that's Keonte. When you step on the court, if you see Keonte Kennedy guarding you, just know it’s going to be a rough day. All summer I had to deal with (him) … He made me better this summer and that’s just who he is — an elite defender but also a great offensive player as well,” Cone said.
Though the scoring by Cal’s top-four transfers led the way to a near 20-point victory, it was the ball security and ball movement that kept the Broncos away.
Saturday night was just the second game of the season that the Bears had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, with a season-low seven turnovers. Cal’s limited turnovers didn’t allow Santa Clara to regain momentum late in the game as the team only surrendered eight points on its seven turnovers to the Broncos.
“We’ve been emphasizing (turnovers) … so we really challenged the guys last week, ‘Hey, let's get our turnovers down.’ We saw growth from those three prior games to San Diego State — it came down — and then we took another step tonight. That’s going to be a huge key for us this year, being able to take care of the basketball. We had only one turnover in the first half and so I was really happy about that,” said Cal head coach Mark Madsen.
Cal still remains without Jalen Celestine and Devin Askew, but the focus remains on a roadtrip to Indianapolis where it will face Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Contact Eric Hayrapetian at Eric.hayrapetian@gmail.com
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