Pac-12 Basketball: Each team’s worst performance of the last decade
By Joey Loose
California
November 22, 2017 (Chaminade 96, California 72) (GS: Unavailable)
This past season was historically bad for the Cal Golden Bears as they rebuilt under new coach Wyking Jones. Before diving into the unexplainable, we’ll first look at a few of the losses that didn’t quite make the cut. It’s fun to look back at these bad games after all.
The championship game of the 2011 CBE Hall of Fame Classic saw Cal get crushed 92-53, but it was to a very good Missouri team (that wasn’t quite Norfolk State good). Worse yet, they fell at home to Cal State Bakersfield in late December 2014, getting down by as much as 17 in the first half along the way and dropping a game in which they were heavy favorites. There was also this past season’s opener, falling 74-66 at home to an iffy UC Riverside team. And yet, while those are all great options, it’s what happened at this past year’s Maui Invitational that’s even worse.
Cal led Wichita State by as many as 18 before falling apart late and followed that up with a rough loss to VCU. But it was game three where the wheels completely fell off the car before the season had barely begun, a stunning loss to Division II club Chaminade. Led by 23 points from UNLV transfer Dantley Walker, the Silverswords crushed Cal in their final game as part of the Maui Invitational. Chaminade, who shot 55%, built a 10-point halftime lead before pulling away late in the game, shooting 56% from the 3 (Cal shot just 27% from 3).
This past season was historically bad for California, but it’s hard to top a blowout loss to a non-D1 program. As previously mentioned, this was a rebuilding effort for Wyking Jones, though it may not get prettier in year two. The one positive is that the Pac-12 might be weak enough for Cal to steal more than two wins this year, but anything impressive from this program would be laughable.