COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Andrej Stojakovic scored a career-high 26 points but the California men's basketball team squandered a 16-point halftime lead in a 98-93 loss at Missouri in an SEC/ACC Challenge contest on Tuesday night.
 
Four Golden Bears finished in double figures as Jeremiah Wilkinson added 19 points, Rytis Petraitis had 17 and Jovan Blacksher Jr. – making his return from a three-game absence due to injury – scored 13 along with a season-high five steals.
 
Cal (6-2) shot 50% (31 of 62) for the game, knocked down 10 3-pointers and made 21 of 25 at the line, but it was not enough to withstand a second-half barrage by the Tigers (7-1), who made 22-of-26 field goal attempts in the second half, including 14 in a row at one point.
 
Anthony Robinson II had a career-best 29 points while Mark Mitchell added 21 for Missouri.
 
Cal used a 17-0 run late in the first half to take a 51-35 lead into the intermission. Missouri erased that deficit quickly in the second half, taking the lead for good with 10:55 remaining. The Bears tied the game three times from then on, the last with 5 and a half minutes left.
 
Mitchell, harassed by three Bears in the paint, muscled through for a dunk and added another seconds later after a steal and assist from Tony Perkins for a 92-86 lead with 1:23 remaining. From there, Robinson made five free throws, two coming after a Cal player called a timeout the Bears didn't have.
 
Petraitis added five assists, three rebounds and three steals, while Stojakovic was 3 of 4 from 3-point range on the way to his fourth 20-point effort of the early season.
 
Cal was without BJ Omot and DJ Campbell for the fourth consecutive game while Missouri did not have leading scorer Caleb Grill.
 
UP NEXT
Cal will host Stanford on Saturday in the two rival program's inaugural ACC contest. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion.
 
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Tickets for the 2024-25 campaign can be purchased by visiting CalBears.com/Tickets, calling 800-GO-BEARS (462-3277) or emailing goldstandard@berkeley.edu. Fans can support the Golden Bears through the Cal Men's Basketball Excellence Initiative or the California Legends Collective.
 
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