Cal will be out to deliver a better rebounding effort in a visit from Utah Tech on Saturday at Berkeley, Calif.
Two guards led Cal (2-2) in rebounds during a 77-65 loss to No. 21 Southern California on Wednesday and coach Mark Madsen knows that is not a winning formula.
“Our inconsistency just can’t happen,” said Madsen, whose team has lost back-to-back games to ranked teams, including a loss to then-No. 10 Houston on Sunday. “We were outrebounded by almost 20. I have to figure out a way to fix that and we will.
“(Coach Eric Musselman) down at USC has that group playing well. We will get to that point here at Cal. We just weren’t there tonight.”
The Bears led by seven points in the first half before the Trojans started pounding them on the boards, while chasing down loose balls. Sammie Yeanay had a team-high 14 points.
“Our shots are going to fall,” said Cal’s Nojus Indrusaitis, who added 13 points. “It was more on the defensive end that hurt us. Rebounding and 50/50 balls; they literally got every one.”
It doesn’t help that Cal is without Lee Dort (ankle), who averaged 7.8 rebounds last season.
“We can’t use Lee as a crutch,” Madsen said. “We still have to be better, even without him out there. Two guards led us in rebounding, that is unacceptable.”
This will be the first meeting between Utah Tech and Cal. The Trailblazers are coming off a 118-86 loss to Utah State on Tuesday, the second time this season they have given up 100 points. They also had a 100-60 loss to New Mexico.
“We couldn’t guard anyone tonight,” Utah Tech coach Jon Judkins said.
Scoring has not been a problem for the Trailblazers, who beat Grace 103-52.
Ethan Potter and Aris Rodriguez led Utah Tech with 19 points each in the loss to Utah State. Potter also had his first double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.
Christian Gibson added 17 points and four rebounds and Mark Brown Jr. chipped in 14 points.
Trailblazers freshman guard Owen Mackay had a solid all-around game with eight points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks off the bench.
–Field Level Media
