Lee still has more to show
Marcus Lee scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds, Darius McNeill also had 17 points and Cal beat Wofford 79-65 at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night.
It was Lee’s second straight double-double, although Golden Bears head coach Wyking Jones thought his forward could have done more.
“Marcus should have had 25 tonight,” Jones said. He “missed a bunch of shots that I expect him to make, that he expects to make. He just has such natural gifts that maybe my expectations are too high, but I think he has more in his tank than what he’s giving us right now.”
Kingsley Okoroh added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bears (2-1) in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
A transfer from Kentucky who sat out all of last season, Lee was shut down in the first half after scoring Cal’s first two points.
The 6-foot-11 senior had little problem after the break and scored six points as part of a 12-3 run coming out of halftime. Lee also had five assists.
“I’m extremely comfortable with this offense,” Lee said. “Going through it every day in offense, we see just about every different thing that comes out of each play, so it’s kind of sitting like a quarterback.”
Don Coleman scored 16 points with three assists for Cal.
Fletcher Magee hit seven three-pointers and finished with 32 points and Matthew Pegram scored 13 for Wofford (1-2).
Magee scored 17 points apiece in Wofford’s first two games, but easily topped that mark in the first half against Cal. One of three starters back from last season’s team, which finished 16-17, Magee had 24 points with five three-pointers to help the Terriers to a 37-36 halftime lead.
McNeill had 15 points — seven more than he had in the first two games combined — to keep the Bears close in the first half.
“The best thing about how he played tonight is he played in the context of our offense,” Jones said. “I’ve always told him, ‘If you score, it’s a bonus. Run the team.’ He did a really good job of playing under control, playing with a lot of confidence.”