“Pretty straightforward game: Very good team, very well coached, we kind of knew what we were getting ourselves into,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said. “We knew that we had to be very good in terms of execution and we weren’t, and that, as much as anything, [was] the deficit.”
Princeton came into the game on a two-game losing streak after falling to Army at home and away at George Washington last week. The Tigers picked a tough opponent to try to snap their losing streak against — the Golden Bears were ranked as high as No. 12 in the preseason rankings.
Both Cal and Princeton jumped out to 2-0 starts this season, after which both teams dropped two in a row. The Golden Bears were dropped by No. 9 Syracuse and No. 18 Ohio State.
Cal started off the game on a 6-0 run, but sophomore guard Patrick Saunders hit a three to keep Princeton close. The Golden Bears then proceeded to rattle off another five straight points. Junior guard Dan Mavraides converted on a pair of free throws to make it 8-5, but then Cal went on a 12-0 run to make it 20-5 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Freshman forward Ian Hummer finally put an end to Cal’s run with a jumper, but the Tigers never recovered as the Golden Bears went on to lead wire to wire.
Cal shot 56.7 percent in the first half to take a 39-25 lead. When the Golden Bears weren’t knocking down shots, they were picking up offensive rebounds — six of them — en route to a dominant performance on the glass, which they won, 17-8. Cal only scored two second-chance points, but they still hurt the Tigers, who needed the possessions if they were to have any chance of chipping away at the lead.
The Golden Bears stretched the lead out to 20 in the second half and coasted the rest of way, closing out the game, 81-60.
“We’ve got stuff to work on,” Johnson said. “We got some contributions there, a little bit of grit from some guys here and there, but we’ve just got to pay attention to the little things. Fight for each other, fight with each other against who we’re facing — if we can do that, we’ll be all right.”
Two Cal players in particular tormented Princeton. Forward Jamal Boykin and guard Jerome Randle each finished with 22 points. Randle had nine assists to boot, with only two turnovers. Both players shot over 50 percent from the field.
Princeton ended up shooting a respectable 42.9 percent, but it was nowhere near enough to keep pace with the 56.1 percent clip that Cal maintained throughout the game.
The Golden Bears also dominated in the paint, leading to plenty of high-percentage shots. Cal scored 34 points in the paint, compared to only 16 for the Tigers.
Sophomore forward Patrick Saunders had another solid effort for Princeton. Saunders, who was inserted into the starting lineup in the game against George Washington, led the Tigers in scoring for the second time in as many games, with 14 points. He was an efficient five of eight from the field, with three of those makes coming from beyond the arc. He also had two rebounds, two blocks and an assist to go with only one turnover.
Sophomore guard Doug Davis also remained in the starting lineup, and he responded with 12 points.
Hummer and fellow freshman forward Will Barrett had nice performances off the pine, scoring nine and 13, respectively. Five of Barrett’s points came off free throws, though they were all in the last four minutes of the game when the outcome was already decided.
“We feel like we have a roster full of guys that can help us out,” Johnson said.
This was the second straight game that Princeton played against a recent NCAA tournament team. George Washington danced in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 tournaments, and Cal made the tournament last year as a No. 7 seed.
After starting out the season 2-0, the Tigers have lost three straight, albeit against some tough competition. Princeton will have a chance to snap its streak this Thursday when it travels to Rutgers.
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