Cal holds off Nicholls State with 3-point barrage
Cal held visiting Nicholls State to six points in the first 14 minutes of the game, blew a 15-point lead and then rode uncharacteristically good 3-point shooting to a 60- 49 nonconference victory on Monday night in Berkeley.
Matt Bradley connected on three 3-pointers to account for almost one-third of his career-high matching 26 points for the Bears (2-1), who were playing their home opener.
Grant Anticevich (three), Makale Foreman (two) and Ryan Betley (two) also dropped in multiple 3s as Cal, one of the worst 3-point-shooting teams in the nation last season, went 10 for 26 from beyond the arc.
T he Bears made 10 3- pointers only once in 32 games last season, that coming in a nonconference win over Pepperdine.
After the Colonels (22) had rallied from a 21- 6 deficit into a 23- all tie, Bradley nailed a 3-pointer with 17:18 remaining in the game to give Cal the lead for good.
The Bears, who have won two straight after a season- opening loss at Oregon State, went on to lead by as many as 15.
Anticevich backed Bradley with 11 points, while Andre Kelly had a gamehigh-tying nine rebounds off the bench to complement four points.
Najee Garvin had 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Nicholls State, which completes a week-long Bay Area swing at Saint Mary’s tonight. NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 78, UNLV 51 >> R. J. Davis scored 16 points, and the Tar Heels ran away from the Rebels on the first day of the relocated Maui Invitational in Asheville, North Carolina.
Garrison Brooks added 14 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the first half for the Tar Heels (2- 0), who fell behind 13- 0 and didn’t score for the first 61/2 minutes. North Carolina (2- 0) will take on the winner of Monday’s late game between Alabama and Stanford.
NO. 17 TEXAS 78, DAVIDSON 76 >> Courtney Ramey had the go-ahead driving score with 20 seconds left to help the Longhorns (2- 0) hold off the Wildcats (1-1) in the opening game of the Maui Invitational. Ramey’s score broke a 76-all tie, then the Longhorns came up with a pair of stops on the final possession
GONZAGA, BAYLOR STAY ATOP AP TOP 25 >> The first Associated Press men’s college basketball poll of the regular season remained steady at the top.
Gonzaga and Baylor remained Nos. 1-2 in the poll released Monday.
Kansas dropped a spot to No. 7 after the loss to Gonzaga. The Jayhawks still managed to move atop the all-time consecutive polls list. Kansas was ranked for the 222nd week, breaking the record set by UCLA from 1966-80 . UCLA dropped out after losing to San Diego State and needing triple overtime to beat Pepperdine.
COVID-19 ISSUES:
• Wake Forest is pausing team activities for the rest of this week and won’t play Troy today due to recent COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.
• Tonight’s game between Maryland and Towson was canceled following a positive test among the Towson support staff.
• Thursday’s Big 12/BIG EAST Battle basketball matchup between No. 17 Texas Tech and St. John’s has been canceled due to concerns over COVID-19.
The Red Storm administration announced that its decision not to travel was due to too many risks. The game was scheduled to be played on Thursday at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
• Monday’s UCLA home opener against Long Beach State was postponed.
Women
SOUTH CAROLINA REMAINS NO. 1 IN WOMEN’S POLL, STANFORD NO. 2 >> South Carolina (3-0) remained the top choice in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll released Monday.
The top 10 teams stayed the same as in the preseason poll, with Stanford, UConn, Baylor and Louisville rounding out the first five.
ARIZONA STATE 62, SAINT MARY’S 53 >> Taycee Wedin and Madeline Holland scored 14 points each to lead the Gaels (0-1) in the loss on the road.