Cal Is Mightier Than Penn
Round 1 of the great Golden State vs. Quaker State grudge match went to California by knockout, with forward Joe Shipp standing over a fallen Pennsylvania defender after a dunk, celebrating and jabbering like Ali.
The Bears stopped Penn, 82-75, Friday in a South Regional first-round game, using an early 10-0 run to seize a lead they never relinquished.
Round 2 promises to be tougher. No Ivy League softy is third-seeded Pittsburgh, which will take on No. 6 Cal (23-8) in a second-round game Sunday, again in front of a full-throated partisan throng at the Mellon Center.
“Our goal will be working hard on defending Pitt,” Cal Coach Ben Braun said. “I told the team after [beating Penn] that they are as ready as any team I’ve had.”
It showed early. Nine Bears scored in the first half, with Shipp, center Solomon Hughes and guard Brian Wethers leading the way with three baskets each.
Guards Shantay Legans, A.J. Diggs and Dennis Gates crisply moved the ball around the perimeter, 6-foot-11 post players Jamal Sampson and Hughes found openings inside and forwards Amit Tamir and Ryan Forehan-Kelly made outside shots.
This is an equal-opportunity outfit, a deep, varied roster of players who share the ball and complement one another beautifully.
Shipp is closest to star status, and he scored 20 points against 11th-seeded Ivy League champion Penn (25-7), 15 in the second half. He made 11 of 14 free throws, four of seven shots and one NBA-length three-pointer that stretched the lead to 68-59 with three minutes to play.
And there was the dunk, no doubt the game’s enduring memory for the Bear forward and his Shipp-mates. He took a pass from Diggs with 12:20 left, gathered steam and jammed the ball over Penn’s Koko Archibong, who fell on his back with Shipp standing over him, exultant.
Braun was screaming, “Lay it in!” but apparently Shipp didn’t hear him.
“That’s one time you are glad to see [a dunk] because he had to go over the defender,” Braun said. “I told Joe to lay it up, but it was huge. It was an emphatic play.”
Cal was ferocious on defense as well, shutting down talented Penn forwards Ugonna Onyekwe and Archibong. Onyekwe, who averages 17.7 points, scored 16, but he disappeared for long stretches, taking only two shots while Cal built an eight-point halftime lead.
Archibong made one of nine shots in the first half and five of 17 in the game, also finishing with 16 points.
“Sampson and Hughes altered a lot of their shots,” Wethers said. “Jamal, especially, is hard to shoot over. He extends to about nine feet.”
With the interior sealed, Penn was left to launch three-pointers, making 11 of 24. Jeff Schiffner made three in a two-minute span in the first half and added another in the second half.
“They were real good defensively and we needed to shoot better in order to win,” Penn Coach Fran Dunphy said.
By losing, the Quakers deprived fans of an all-Pennsylvania second-round matchup between Penn and Pitt.
Instead, in this corner, from the Pacific 10 Conference ...
“We came out fighting and that’s how we plan to play,” said Wethers, who scored 19 points, mostly on slashing runners through the lane.
The Bears advanced past the first round for the first time since 1997, when they defeated another Ivy League opponent--Princeton--and beat Villanova to make a Sweet 16 appearance.
Last season, they lost to Fresno State in the first round.
“We are a lot more focused, a lot more ready, a lot more hungry,” Wethers said. “Last year, we were just excited to be in the situation we were in. This year, we want to make a run.”
