Days after earning his first signature win at Cal, head coach Mark Madsen outdid himself as the Bears came through once again Wednesday night. Once down 20 points to visiting Colorado, Cal leaned on its star wing Jaylon Tyson to score 56 points in the second half erasing the deficit to earn an 82-78 victory over the Buffaloes at Haas Pavilion.
The Bears (6-10, 2-3 Pac-12) looked like a completely different team in the second half and used a 17-4 run led by Tyson to eventually pull even with Colorado by the 4:56 mark. From that point on, a battle ensued and eventually guard Jalen Cone stepped in to help Tyson nailing two big 3-pointers and key free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Bears.
The win comes after Cal knocked off UCLA, 66-57, last Saturday in its final matchup with the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion.
“Colorado came out and just blitzed us from the start, they just blitzed us,” Madsen said. “And, we were doing every single thing that we had worked on and none of it was working, but our guys kept fighting. And we were able to turn the tide, and I’m proud of our team.
“… I think it can prove to the guys the simple principle of no matter what happens, keep on working, keep on fighting because the tide can turn at any moment.”
The Bears made just eight shots and connected on just 23.5% of their attempts from the field in the first half. However, Tyson quickly shifted the game with his ability to hit shots from all over the floor.
The junior wing finished the game with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting with 23 of his points coming in the final 16:05 of the game. Tyson was a perfect 8 for 8 from the field in the second half and didn’t miss any of his five free-throw attempts. He also went 2 for 2 from 3-point range in the second half.
“We’ve been through a lot,” Tyson said. “We haven’t had a full roster since we started playing. … It just continued on and I feel like we just keep battling and battling. We never give up. That’s the thing about this team. That’s gonna take us a long way because we never give up.”
Cone finished the game with 17 points after going 1 for 9 in the first half from the field. His three 3-pointers in the second half provided the Bears with a boost and helped aid Tyson in the comeback attempt.
“I’ve been in that situation a bunch of times,” Cone said. “I’ve been in that atmosphere a bunch of times, so I really didn’t try to think much of it and put that pressure on me. I was just like, ‘We just gotta knock these down and get stops on the defensive end. So, when I get in those scenarios, I just don’t really feel much pressure at all.
“I know I practice on that, I know I’m in the gym constantly working on those situations.”
In all, the Bears finished the game with 14 3-pointers on 30 attempts including nine makes from deep in the second half.
Tyson and Cone combined for seven 3-pointers in the win while Jalen Celestine, Rodney Brown, Jr. and Grant Newell all had two makes from beyond the arc each. Keonte Kennedy connected on a 3-pointer in the win as well.
The Bears struggled inside early in the game and big man Fardaws Aimaq eventually fouled out after 24 minutes on the floor as Colorado big man Eddie Lampkin had a career night in his own right.
The TCU transfer finished with 22 points to lead a group of four Buffaloes to end the night in double figures. Colorado (11-5, 2-3) led the battle in the paint, 42-18, but that didn’t help the Buffaloes avoid losing their third consecutive game.
Cal will now turn its attention to a road game against Pac-12 leading Oregon (12-3, 4-0) Saturday in Eugene at Matthew Knight Arena. Tipoff for that matchup is set for 5 p.m.
Video provided by Cal Athletics
