Cal will probably hope to leave its performance Saturday night in 2024. The Bears will not be on the floor again until the new year, and their showing at SAP Center in San Jose against San Diego State was one of the worst of the season.
Mark Madsen’s squad never found any footing on the offensive end of the floor against the Aztecs and a 16-point first half eventually left the Bears without many answers as SDSU built on its 9-point halftime lead to eventually pull away, 71-50.
Cal (7-5) shot a season-low 25.5% from the field and made just 14 shots in the game including going 5 for 24 from 3-point range.
The Bears eventually found some rhythm on offense in the second half but not before the 23rd-ranked Aztecs (8-2) used a 12-2 run out of the locker room to extend their lead to 19 points, 37-18, with 17:02 to play.
Cal worked the lead down to 14 points but the Aztecs later responded with an 8-0 run to make it a 27-point lead, 58-31, with 8:18 to play all but putting the game out of reach for the Bears.
For the second time in three games, Cal ended the night with 18 turnovers, which led to 25 points for the Aztecs. The Bears managed just 5 points off 13 SDSU turnovers.
Madsen’s squad was also outplayed on the glass and allowed 21 offensive rebounds in the game that led to 26 second-change points for the Aztecs. Meanwhile, Cal had just 6 second-change points despite hauling in 16 offensive rebounds.
Cal has had five games in which it outrebounded its opponent by at least 10 rebounds. That wasn’t the case Saturday night as SDSU became the first team to outrebound the Bears this year.
The Aztecs were plus-10 in that category with a 49-39 edge over Cal.
The offense was dismal for both teams throughout most of the first half as neither team was able to get into any kind of flow on that end of the floor until late in the opening half.
Cal shot just 15.6% in the first half after connecting on just 5 of its 32 shot attempts. The Bears missed each of their 12 3-point attempts in the opening half.
Leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic went 0 for 9 in the opening half but was able to use his aggressiveness to get to the free-throw line to generate some positive momentum.
He ended the night with 10 points after hitting a couple 3-pointers in the second half. Meanwhile, Jeremiah Wilkinson was a bright spot in the second half as he contributed 11 points over the final 20 minutes.
He finished the game with 13 points on 3-for-11 shooting and a game-high 7 made free throws. The Cal freshman also had 6 rebounds and 2 assists but missed all seven of his 3-point attempts.
Big man Mady Sissoko led the effort on the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 5 points.
The Bears are now done with nonconference play and will resume their ACC schedule on Jan. 1 when they head to Pittsburgh for an 11 a.m. PT meeting with the Panthers before traveling to Clemson.
