Thursday night was Cal's first real test of their young season after two cupcake games against Kennesaw State and Alcorn State, both which resulted in easy Cal victories. The opponent was #23 ranked Syracuse and the setting was Madison Square Garden, which for Syracuse is sort of a home away from home. Madison Square Garden was overwhelmingly filled with support for Syracuse, and yet Cal was unfazed by the sea of Orange.
The key to Cal's success was pushing the tempo, knocking down open threes, and moving the ball. The Golden Bears did not have a passive approach to the famous 2-3 zone of Syracuse. They instead attacked it relentlessly and sought for every opportunity to push the ball for easy baskets in transition. By doing just this, Cal was able to set themselves up for some easy looks, knocking down 8-19 shots from 3-point range while also totaling 20 assists.
The most amazing part about this game was that Syracuse never really threatened to win. Once Cal had the 34-22 halftime lead, they pretty much coasted the rest of the way for the victory. Every now and then Syracuse made a play that kept them alive, but never enough to actually get one to think they had a shot at coming back. This I think is largely due to Cal sticking to their game plan and not slowing down or playing conservatively.
As a matter of fact, sometimes Cal pushed the tempo when it actually would have been better to slow things down once the game was well in hand. But all the same, they stuck to their game plan of pushing the tempo, and it paid off handsomely in the end, resulting in a 73-59 victory over the Orangemen. Jordan Mathews ended up being the guy who benefited the most from this high tempo style of play, finishing with 22 points on 6-12 shooting from the field and 8-10 shooting from the foul line.
(via Cal Bears.com---Courtesy: Mollie McClure/McClure Photography)
On Friday, Cal will face another tough opponent in Texas who is coming off a win against Iowa. Cal will certainly need to once again bring their "A-game" if they are going to win. But whether or not they win that game, they already can feel really good about what kind of team they have going forward. Especially since they are only going to get better. Go Bears!
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord
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