Cal Poly keeps it close in first half, then Cal pulls away

Mar 13, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; California Golden Bears coach Mark Madsen reacts against the Stanford Cardinal in the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesJovan Blacksher Jr. had a team-high 18 points, Andrej Stojakovic added 15 and California ran off from visiting Cal Poly 91-73 on Thursday night for a nonconference win that gave the Golden Bears their first 2-0 start in five years. Rytis Petraitis chipped in with 13 points off the bench and BJ Omot had 10, as Cal (2-0), featuring 10 transfers, used a balance attack to more than offset a career-high 20-point performance by Cal Poly's Isaac Jessup. Coming off a season-opening loss at San Francisco on Tuesday, the Mustangs (0-2) scored the game's first five points and 11 of the first 13. Jessup had a pair of 3-pointers and Ethan Menzies a third in the run. Cal missed six of its first seven shots before Omot converted a Mady Sissoko offensive rebound into a three-point play, beginning an uphill climb that eventually saw the Golden Bears take their first lead at 25-24 with 5:38 left in the half. Cal, which opened with a one-sided home win over Cal State Bakersfield on Monday, gradually pulled away, taking a 39-35 halftime advantage before leading by as many as 25 in the second half. Blacksher, an Oakland native who transferred to Cal this offseason from Grand Canyon, hit six of his 13 shots from the floor, including four of his seven 3-point attempts. The Golden Bears outshot the Mustangs 46.2 percent to 37.9 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent to 38.5 percent on 3-pointers. Lee Dort came off the bench to lead Cal in rebounding with 11 to go with eight points. Six of his boards came on the offensive end. Jessup accounted for five of Cal Poly's 10 3-pointers on nine attempts. He shot 6-for-10 from the floor. The Colorado transfer, who played just four games for the Buffaloes in the 2020-21 season before resurfacing at Cal Poly this fall, surpassed his previous career high of 12 points, set in the season opener. Owen Koonce also scored in double figures for the visitors with 11 points, while Kieran Elliott was the Mustangs' leading rebounder with six off the bench. --Field Level Media

…