Bird steps up when it counts
Jabari Bird missed his first five three-point attempts Saturday, but he finally found his range at the most important time.
With Cal clinging to a onepoint lead with less than a minute to play, Bird knocked down a wing three that helped the Bears escape with a 58-54 victory over Washington State in what was a defensive scrum of a game at Haas Pavilion.
“He’s a big-time player, so at the end of the game, we expect him to step up,” Cal sophomore forward Ivan Rabb said of Bird.
After Bird’s three-pointer put the Bears ahead 56-52, Malachi Flynn made a baseline jumper to trim the Cougars’ deficit to two points with 32 seconds to play. Rabb missed two free throws, giving Washington State hope, but Flynn’s jumper missed with 22 seconds on the clock.
Following a lengthy official review, the Cougars were awarded the ball under their basket with 18.2 ticks left. Sam Singer drew a charge against Flynn as he attempted a potential game-tying runner with 2.7 seconds on the clock.
“We practice that pretty much every day,” Singer said. “… I just wanted to make sure I got out of the restricted zone and took the charge.”
Charlie Moore’s free throws clinched the victory for the Bears (13-5, 4-2 Pac-12), who limited Washington State to 38.2 percent shooting and blocked nine shots. The Cougars (9-8, 2-3) got 20 points from Flynn, but Josh Hawkinson was held to less than half of his season average, producing just seven points on 2-of-6 shooting.
“Hawkinson is a load down low. He can score from all three levels,” Rabb said. “He’s a competitor, and we took it personal, just trying to slow him down.”
Rabb recorded his ninth double-double of the season, leading Cal with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Moore added 11 points, Grant Mullins had eight, and Singer chipped in seven points.
Bird’s four points got him to 1,001 for his career. He’s the 47th Cal player to reach the milestone and the first since Tyrone Wallace (1,613) and Jordan Mathews (1,202) last year.
Midway through the first half, the teams started to wake up. After combining to shoot 6-of-24 from the floor and cough up eight turnovers to two assists in the game’s first eight minutes, both teams started to find some offensive rhythm.
Washington State went 8-of-10 from the field, including five three-pointers, during a seven-minute stretch that resulted in a 29-21 lead. During the end of the Cougars’ spurt, Rabb finally got on the board with two free throws.
That sparked Rabb and Cal. His first field goal, after missing his first four shots, initiated a 7-0, half-closing run to trim the Bears’ deficit to 29-28 at intermission.
Rabb scored seven straight points for Cal during a 3½minute stretch that cut the Cougars’ lead to 38-37 with 13:11 to play. There were three lead changes and two ties from the 11:14 mark to the 2:55 mark, including a three-pointer by Flynn that tied it 50-50 and set up the entertaining final three minutes.