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Cal embarrassed at Oregon State
By Morris Phillips February 18, 2010 |
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Corvallis, Oregon wasn’t the place to be on Thursday, especially if you’re a California Golden Bear. Mike Montgomery? Sitting stoically on the bench, he looked like he wasn’t happy to be there. Jerome Randle? He looked like he wasn’t any happier than the last time he was there. And Markhuri Sanders-Frison? He was happy to be there in front of family and friends, at least until the referees ended his homecoming prematurely, at which point he wasn’t happy either. In the 80-64 loss to Oregon State, Cal combined their continued troubles attacking OSU’s trapping zone with a lackadaisical defensive effort in a truly embarrassing performance. “We weren’t defending. They played tempo basketball, and we weren’t patient. We didn’t want to play through a 35-second clock. And invariably, it would get late in the shot clock and we relaxed, they’d drive at us, and we foul them,” Mike Montgomery said. “We did a lot of reaching, I guess, because they spent a lot of time at the foul line.” With the refs finding frequent and unique times to blow their whistles, Oregon State attempted 36 free throws, and scored a season-high in points. But the Bears were just as responsible for OSU’s big offensive night by committing numerous turnovers early, most of which were converted on the other end by the Beavers. After scoring first, on a 3-pointer from Patrick Christopher, Cal came up empty on its next four possessions, and trailed for the rest of the half. With a chance to climb within one point at the half, Nikola Knezevic lost the handle on the ball as he was sailing in for an uncontested layup. Roeland Schaftenaar, probably the Pac-10’s most disappointing player, having a rare, impactful game, opened the second half with a jumper that put the Beavers up five. Oregon State took control from there, creating a 10-point margin with 12 minutes to go, and a 15-point gap with seven minutes remaining. Schaftenaar led Oregon State with 22 points, one of five Beavers to score in double figures. Cal got 15 from Theo Robertson and 12 from Patrick Christopher, but those two along with Randle combined to miss 15 3-point attempts, as Cal settled for deep jumpers when the OSU zone deterred them from penetrating. Sanders-Frison turned in a productive 15 minute effort off the bench with 7 points and three rebounds, but he fell prey to a pair of elbows thrown by OSU’s Joe Burton. When the second elbow landed on Sanders-Frison’s throat, he responded with a shove that prompted a foul call and a technical. But with such plays reviewable via television replay, the refs again ignored Burton’s acts, and awarded OSU two free throws and the ball. Sanders-Frison, tagged with a personal and a technical foul, fouled out. Cal found themselves down 61-48 with 8 minutes remaining after the exchange. “He’s got to quit reacting to the officials and what he thinks the calls are,” Montgomery said. With the loss, the Bears (17-9, 9-5) saw their lead in the Pac-10 decrease to just a half-game over USC, who won at Washington. But once again, the Pac-10 race isn’t a beauty contest, and Cal will get a chance to look fairly attractive again on Saturday in Eugene against last-place Oregon. |
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