National Basketball Association
Virginia 56, California 52
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Where: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California
Officials:
# Verne Harris, # David Hall, # Eric Curry
Attendance:
11092
By The Sports Xchange
BERKELEY, Calif. -- It certainly wasn't pretty, but 12th-ranked Virginia felt pretty good about its 56-52 victory over California on Wednesday that ended the Bears' 27-game home winning streak.
Two teams that rely on their defense slugged it out at Haas Pavilion, with Virginia (10-1) shooting just 38.6 percent from the field while Cal (9-3) was even worse at 35.3 percent.
"There was the streak, and we knew it was going to be physical," said Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett, whose team leads the nation in scoring defense. "I told them going in that it was going to be a good old knuckle-buster."
Freshman Kyle Guy led the Cavaliers with 17 points, with 14 of them coming in the second half. Cal took advantage of Guy at the defensive end, but he made up for it at the other end, hitting several big baskets that turned the game in Virginia's favor.
"My defense has been a little inconsistent," he said, "so I was kind of surprised coach left me in."
Guy also drew motivation from fans mocking his hairstyle, which Guy calls a man bun.
"I love it when people say, 'I hate your hair,'" he said.
London Perrantes added 14 points for the Cavaliers.
Jabari Bird had 15 points for Cal, and Ivan Rabb collected nine points and 12 rebounds. Sam Singer had 10 points for Cal.
Cal's leading scorer, freshman Charlie Moore, had just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting as Perrantes, a senior, did the defensive work on him most of the time.
"You'd love to win the game," Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said, "but I think this was a blessing for Charlie. It will be a valuable lesson."
The Bears were very much in the game throughout the second half.
After seven straight points by Guy put the Cavaliers ahead, things got a bit controversial with 2:59 left.
Virginia held a one-point lead, but Bird was headed to the free-throw line to shoot two shots. However, during the timeout before the free throws, officials ruled that a malfunction had caused the shot clock to stop momentarily. After deliberation, they decided that the foul on Bird came after the shot clock should have expired. Instead of two Bird free throws, Cal got a turnover.
"The call was made and you live with it," Martin said. "I thought it was a tough call."
Nonetheless, a three-point play by Singer tied the score 49-49 with 1:37 left. A three-point play by Isaiah Wilkins with 1:02 remaining put the Cavaliers back up by three.
A jumper by Mamadi Diakite with 24 seconds left put Virginia up by five, but Bird hit a 3-point shot to reduce the margin to 54-52 with 18.9 seconds remaining.
Guy hit two free throws with 15.9 seconds left to make it a four-point game, and Cal could not respond.
Despite their offensive inefficiency most of the game, the Cavaliers scored on their final five possessions in the final two minutes.
"I think we learned our lesson from the close loss against West Virginia," Perrantes said.
Rabb said, "Down the stretch, we made a bunch of silly mistakes. It was mostly mistakes we made on our own to give the game away."
Virginia was pleased it was able to close out a close, physical game against a good opponent on the road, although there was a boisterous section of Cavaliers rooters at the game.
"I feel like this was a taste of what we are going to get in the ACC," Wilkins said.
NOTES: Cal's 27-game home winning streak entering Wednesday's game was the fourth-longest active streak in the country. Kansas (49), South Dakota State (34) and Oregon (33) were only schools with longer streaks. The Bears' last home lost came against Oregon on Feb. 25, 2015 ... Virginia entered the game leading the nation by a wide margin in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 46.7 points per game. The Cavaliers ranked second in field-goal percentage defense, at 33.9 percent. Cal ranked 12th in scoring defense and 11th in field-goal percentage defense.
Top Game Performances
| Virginia |
|
California |
|
Kyle Guy 17 |
Scoring |
Jabari Bird 15 |
|
Darius Thompson 5 |
Assists |
Charlie Moore 4 |
|
Devon Hall 6 |
Rebounds |
Ivan Rabb 12 |
|
Kyle Guy 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Ivan Rabb 7 |
|
Kyle Guy 1 |
Steals |
Sam Singer 2 |
|
Mamadi Diakite 2 |
Blocks |
Kingsley Okoroh 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Virginia
|
56 |
38.6 |
4-13 |
8-11 |
14 |
29 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
| California
|
52 |
35.3 |
5-23 |
11-16 |
11 |
33 |
3 |
3 |
13 |
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