McNeill’s 3-point barrage helps Bears snap skid
Cal State Northridge head coach Reggie Theus pleaded with his players to extend their defense 2 feet beyond the three-point arc.
On this night, even that wasn’t far enough.
Darius McNeill seemingly could have connected from anywhere in Haas Pavilion, scoring a personal-high 22 points in a near record-setting shooting effort that led Cal to an 83-63 victory over the Matadors on Tuesday night.
“I just came out being aggressive and letting the game come to me, and that was the outcome,” McNeill said. “I’m starting to get a feel for college basketball and getting more comfortable.”
The freshman point guard connected on his first six three-point attempts, flirting with breaking the school’s record for three-pointers without a miss into the game’s closing eight minutes. Amit Tamir and Eric Vierneisel each went 5-for-5 from three-point range.
McNeill’s finished 6-for-7 from beyond the arc, a muchneeded effort for reeling Cal (3-4). The school announced before the game that assistant coach Theo Robertson is on a leave from the program, which had dropped three straight, including losing to Virginia Commonwealth and Chaminade after allowing then-No. 6 Wichita State to overcome an 18-point, second-half deficit.
“Now, the energy will be different around the locker room and in practice,” McNeill said. “We’re going to get back on the right track and have a great season.”
McNeill, who has scored double-figure points in five straight games, was coming off scoring a personal-high 18 points. He beat that total in the first half, making his first seven shots, including five three-pointers during a 19point outburst.
His fifth three-pointer put Cal up 41-21 with 4:55 remaining in the first half, and he didn’t miss until a contested layup went awry in the half ’s closing two minutes. The Bears led by as many as 21 points in the first half and then poured it on in the first three minutes of the second.
McNeill made his sixth three-pointer during Cal’s 11-3, second-half-opening run that pushed its lead to 59-30 over Cal State Northridge (1-5), which ran its losing streak to five games after a season-opening victory over Life Pacific.
The Matadors got 20 points from Terrell Gomez and 17 from Tavrion Dawson, but they couldn’t compete with Cal’s balance. On top of McNeill’s night, the Bears got 15 points and five rebounds from Don Coleman, 14 points and seven rebounds from Marcus Lee and 10 points and five rebounds from Juhwan Harris-Dyson.
For the first time this season, head coach Wyking Jones brought center Kingsley Okoroh off the bench and staggered his minutes with Lee. Jones said he expects that to be the lineup for the rest of the season.