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		Bears open with a narrow victory over Murray State By Morris Phillips November 9, 2009

	The Bears looked pretty good, but did they look like the No. 12 team in the country? That’s a great question. While pollsters like Cal’s experience and high percentage shooting, they’ve also noticed their lack of size and .500 record over the final three-and-a half months of last season. And life as the conference favorite with a demanding pre-season schedule could be rough. Murray State, a pre-season favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference didn’t back down from the challenge of opening the season halfway across the country on a ranked opponent’s home floor. With a hot shooting finish, the Racers came back from down 18 points to suffer a narrow five-point loss, 75-70. “They jumped on us,” coach Mike Montgomery said of the Racers. “They did a pretty good job of taking us out of our offense.” After their breakout junior seasons, Theo Robertson, Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle are the focus of opponents’ game plans. Murray State made it a point to keep Christopher and Robertson from shooting threes by denying them the ball at every opportunity. Randle and Christopher shot just 2 of 9 combined in the first half. The pair finished with 31 points combined, proving that even the most concerted defensive effort will struggle to contain the pair for 40 minutes. “I think there’s a lot of pressure on Jerome and Pat,” Montgomery said. “They have to let the game come to them.” Montgomery hopes the pair will just succeed in matching their production from last season, and not fall prey to heightened expectations that come with being nationally ranked. In line with Montgomery’s wishes, the high scoring trio didn’t get flustered looking for threes, attempting just eight, and making three. In particular, Robertson looked healthier and quicker as he attacked the basket when the opportunity was there. Bear fans in attendance on Monday, had to be asking themselves, what’s new to help justify the high ranking. Brandon Smith might be helpful defensively, but at the guard spot, Jorge Gutierrez already provides plenty of that. New starter Markhuri Sanders-Frisson didn’t stand out, which probably makes him a caretaker until Harper Kamp is healthy enough to claim his spot. Still, Montgomery sees the junior college transfer as a low post scoring threat. Max Zhang, who did play, and Bak Bak, who did not, don’t appear to be ready to make contributions. The Bears may be deeper, but they don’t appear to be any bigger or quicker. The Bears struggled to keep up with the Racers in transition, and thin center Tony Easley at 6’9” an inch taller than the Bears he was matched up against, hurt Cal with his activity on the glass. In the second half, Murray’s early opportunity offense hurt the Bears when B. J. Jenkins and Thomas Danero started to find their rhythm. Randle led the Bears with 18 points, including 10 of 11 from the foul line, and Sanders-Frisson contributed six points and a team-high seven rebounds in his Cal debut.