Coleman returns, but can’t stop skid
Don Coleman returned from a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules, but even with its leading scorer back in the fold Thursday night, the Cal men’s basketball team couldn’t find a way to halt its worst losing skid in 40 years.
The Bears struggled to consistently score against the conference’s best field-goal defense and fell 66-53 to Oregon in front of a crowd of 7,531 at Haas Pavilion, extending their losing streak to nine games.
“Tough one. Tough one. Tough one. Tough one,” Cal head coach Wyking Jones said. “… Guys battled and fought, but we put ourselves in bad situations.”
Cal (7-16, 1-9 Pac-12), which hadn’t lost nine straight games since 1978 and hasn’t dropped 10 in a row since the 1961-62 season, looked more competitive Thursday than it had during much of the current skid.
Coleman, who entered the game averaging 16.9 points per game, came off the bench in his first action since being held out of last week’s losses at UCLA and USC. The junior combo guard, who scored a team-high 16 points, had a three-point play that trimmed what had been a 15-point deficit to 53-47 with 5½ minutes to play.
“I thought he was really good,” Jones said. “I liked the fact that he slowed his game down. He didn’t look like he was just out there running around out of control. He was very controlled, and he picked his spots to look to attack.”
The Ducks (15-7, 5-4), however, shut out Cal for the next 3:44 to put the finishing touches on a night filled with tenacious defense.
The Bears tied a season low with 53 points, shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from three-point range. Justice Sueing (12 points) was the only Cal player to join Coleman in double-digit scoring as the Bears’ frontcourt struggled.
Power forward Marcus Lee had just five points and five rebounds before fouling out with 5:44 to play, and center Kinglsey Okoroh (five points, eight rebounds) joined Lee on the bench about two minutes later.
“Once Marcus and Kingsley got into foul trouble, we couldn’t play from the inside out,” Jones said. “We had to use our perimeter guys to score. … It put a lot more pressure on the perimeter guys to score and create opportunities for themselves.”
The Bears were active on defense, forcing Oregon into 17 turnovers, but the Ducks didn’t miss much when they were able to break the full-court pressure. Led by Troy Brown (16 points) and Elijah Brown (15 points), the Ducks shot 55.3 percent from the floor and connected on 8 of 15 three-point attempts.
Oregon never trailed and took advantage of the Bears’ rough start. Cal missed its first six shots and committed six turnovers before it scored, digging an early 9-0 hole. Coleman’s runner 6½ minutes into the game stopped the drought and drew a sarcastic ovation from the crowd.
The Bears were down 19-11 when Sueing went to the bench with three fouls at the 8:42 mark of the first half, and without the guy who is becoming their most consistent player, the Bears’ deficit ballooned to 15 points.