With 6 minutes left in regulation, the Bears trailed by nine points, 65-56. though Cal’s defense had improved somewhat after allowing UNLV to practically score at will in the first half, the Bears had cooled down themselves. A comeback did not feel imminent.
UNLV would get another 10 possessions in regulation, and scored just 2 points. By mixing man and zone defenses, and by getting much more active and disruptive, Cal held UNLV to 1-7 shooting and forced 5 turnovers the rest of the way.
Cal would need each and every single one of those stops over those final 10 possessions just to tie the game with 33 seconds left to force overtime.