The California Golden Bears faced the underwhelming McNeese St. Cowboys on Monday night, and Cal looked underwhelmed. Playing their fourth basketball game in seven days, Cal was ragged for most of the first half and were caught in a back-and-forth matchup with the Cowboys, as Dontae Cannon shot 8 of 18 for 18 points while Patrick Richard went 6 of 14 for 15 points. McNeese State was leading in the final seconds of the first half before the Bears finally put up a buzzer beating three to take a 28-26 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Cal took over. Jorge Gutierrez and Allen Crabbe seemed to trade baskets for most of the first ten minutes to put the Bears up double digits; Gutierrez shot 11 of 15 from the field for 26 points, Crabbe went 8 of 15 for 20 points. Harper Kamp had 10 points and Justin Cobbs chipped in 8. It wasn't the strongest performance by the Bears, but they still cruised to winning in the second half.
Cal will now have most of the week off before preparing for their toughest road test against the San Diego St. Aztecs.
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