California (#14 AP/#13 USA Today) looks to bounce back from its first loss of the 2015-16 season when the Golden Bears meet Richmond in the third-place game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational Friday at 5 p.m. The contest will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and can be heard in the Bay Area on KSFO 560 AM.
Senior Tyrone Wallace continues to pace Cal in scoring with 19.4 ppg. Shooting 54.5 percent from the floor, he has reached double figures in all five games this season and has run his streak of pouring in 10 points or more to 19 consecutive games dating back to last year.
Up front, freshman Ivan Rabb came through with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-10 field goals in Thursday's 72-58 setback to San Diego State. Not only is he shooting a team-best 63.9 percent from the floor, but he leads the squad in both rebounding (8.6 per game) and total blocks (13).
As a unit, the Bears have not allowed an opponent to make more than 40 percent from the field in any game this year and only San Diego State has been able to break the 70-point barrier. Richmond will present another challenge as the Spiders are averaging 84.4 ppg and have scored at least 89 points three times, including in a 91-82 victory at Wake Forest.
Last Time Out: Big Run Sends San Diego State over Cal
Cal built a 15-point lead early in the second half before San Diego State came charging back with a big run to hand the Golden Bears their first defeat of the 2015-16 season, 72-58, in the first round of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational Thursday. Led by Ivan Rabb's 14 first-half points, Cal was up, 36-28, at the break and saw its advantage grow to 45-30 with less than three minutes into the second period. However, the Aztecs went on a 20-3 spurt to grab a 50-48 lead. Cal tied it again at 50, but San Diego State scored the next eight points on its way to the victory. Rabb paced the Bears with 18 points.
Bears Big on the Boards
Through the first five games of the season, Cal is averaging 10.4 more rebounds that its opponents, 42.6 to 32.2 per game. The Bears posted their largest differential vs. East Carolina when they were +19 (45-26), helped by 13 boards from Ivan Rabb and 10 from Jaylen Brown. Cal also opened the year +18 (48-30 against Rice and had a +15 margin vs. Sam Houston State. While the season clearly has a long way to go, a look at the record book shows that the Bears have been at least +4.0 only eight times since 1954-55, including twice in the last 40 years (+4.3 in 2011-12 and +4.6 in 1992-93). The school record came during the 1959-60 season under Pete Newell when Cal reached the NCAA Championship game with a +11.2 rebounding margin.
Wallace Reaches 20 in First 3 Games
With 20 points vs. Rice, 24 vs. UC Santa Barbara and another 20 vs. East Carolina, senior guard Tyrone Wallace became the first Cal player since Allen Crabbe in 2012-13 to score at least 20 points in the first three games of the year. Crabbe posted 27 against Cal State Bakersfield, 33 vs. Pepperdine and 20 vs. Denver. Including this year's totals, Wallace has 19 career 20-point performances.
Martin 1st Cal Coach to Open 3-0 Twice
When Cal picked up its victory over East Carolina Nov. 20, the Bears improved to 3-0 on the year and in the process made Cuonzo Martin the first coach in school history to begin his career with two consecutive 3-0 starts. Among some of the notable coaches at Cal, Nibs Price, No. 1 on the Bears' all-time wins list, dropped his first game to the Olympic Club in 1924; Pete Newell lost his third game to Pacific in 1954; Lou Campanelli lost his opener at Missouri in 1985; Ben Braun lost his second game to Kansas in 1996; and Mike Montgomery started 3-0 his first season in 2008, but lost his third game in 2009 to Syracuse.
Ivan Rabb a Force around the Rim
Freshman Ivan Rabb leads the Bears with 13 blocks through Cal's first four games, an average of 2.6 per outing. His high game came against East Carolina Nov. 20 when he redirected five shots, and he came back with three more vs. Sam Houston State Nov. 23. Rabb has had at least two blocks in four of the Bears' five contests this year.
Wallace Moving Up Scoring List
With 16 points against San Diego State Thursday, Tyrone Wallace raised his career total to 1,293 point. The effort moved him past Dave Butler and into the 19th position on Cal's all-time list He needs 23 more to pass Theo Robertson for the 18th spot.
16. Roy Fisher (1988-91) 1,382
17. Jackie Ridgle (1969-71). 1,343
18. Theo Robertson (2006-10) 1,315
19. Tyrone Wallace (2013-present) 1,293
Mathews from Downtown
Junior Jordan Mathews, who paced the Pac-12 last season when he connected at a 44.3% clip from behind the arc, has kept up the pace this season by making 11 of his 25 attempts from beyond the arc (44.0%). He has drained 5 of his last 9, which has lifted his career rate to 42.0 percent (third highest in school history). Now with 123 career triples, he is closing in on the school's top 10 with only 16 more needed to match Shantay Legans (139, 2000-02).
