Cal’s first of many cross-country trips for Atlantic Coast Conference play didn’t go well. The Golden Bears endured an 84-60 thrashing from then-No. 23 Virginia and a 78-75 defeat at Virginia Tech.
The Golden Bears (15-5, 3-4 ACC) begin their second trip hoping for a better result on Wednesday against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.
Cal enters this two-game trek riding a recent high. It followed up an 84-78 win over then-No. 14 North Carolina on Jan. 17 with a 78-66 road victory over rival Stanford on Saturday, chasing a three-game losing streak with an active two-game winning streak.
While the Cardinal won the rebound battle 43-41, Cal’s defense held Stanford to 27.3% shooting overall and 19.4% from 3-point range to snap a streak of seven straight games of Cal opponents shooting 40% or better.
Conversely, the Golden Bears won the game with 10-of-25 shooting from outside the arc that helped erase a 16-point first-half deficit. John Camden accounted for half of those made threes, matching his season high with 25 points while recording the team’s first double-double of the season with 10 rebounds.
After a four-game stretch where Camden was 3 of 24 from 3-point range (12.5%), the senior forward has gone 12 of 21 (57.1%) over the last three games.
“I started off rough in ACC play after a good nonconference,” Camden said. “I knew I just had to stay locked in, stay aggressive and keep shooting.”
The Seminoles (8-12, 1-6) enter this week tied for last in the ACC standings. However, the team has taken a turn toward being more competitive of late.
Since their 113-69 home loss to North Carolina State on Jan. 10, Florida State lost three games by a combined 12 points and mixed in a 65-63 road upset of rival Miami.
Last time out, the Seminoles led by three with four minutes left before coming up short in an 83-80 loss Saturday at SMU.
“Our team is moving in the right direction. The results, obviously, are not,” FSU coach Luke Loucks said. “… We have to continue to learn in these close games how important the details are.”
Leading scorer Robert McCray V, who ranks second in the ACC with 6.5 assists per game, has stepped up his game of late.
Since a disastrous 12-point, 11-turnover performance in a 1-point loss to Wake Forest on Jan. 17, he produced a combined 41 points and 13 assists in the last two games with just five turnovers.
–Field Level Media
