Cal Downed by TCU at Emerald Coast Classic

NICEVILLE, Fla. – California performed defensively but committed 19 turnovers in a 59-48 loss to TCU at the Emerald Coast Classic on Friday night.

The Golden Bears couldn’t get closer than six points in the second half despite holding TCU (4-1) to 39.3% shooting from the floor and just 17.6% from 3 points. It was the Golden Bears’ sixth straight loss to start the season and dropped them in a third-place game with Clemson at 1 p.m. PT Saturday.

“I thought we created the style of play that we wanted to create,” the Cal head coach said. Marc Fox said. “(But) we gave up 14 offensive rebounds, which was a major concern early in the game…(and) on the offensive side with 19 turnovers, you just can’t win that way.”

Lars Thiemann and Guess wrong scored 12 points apiece to beat Cal. Thiemann added eight rebounds while Askew had three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Sam Alajiki finished with seven points and four boards.

It was a back-and-forth affair for the first five minutes before the Horned Frogs took the lead definitively on a second-chance lay-up from Eddie Lampkin with 14:47 remaining in the first half. After a lay-up by Joel Brown brought Cal within a point, 17-16, the Bears missed their next eight shots over a span of six minutes and eventually went into intermission with a 27-21 deficit.

TCU used a 13-5 run for its biggest lead of the game, 46-32 with 8:41 to go. 3 consecutive points by Kuany Kuany and Grant Newell cut the Frogs’ lead to 46-38, but Cal couldn’t close.

Mike Miles Jr. scored a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds for TCU when he returned to the field after missing the last two games.

NEXT

Cal will quickly switch gears to face Clemson (3-2) in the third-place game at the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT and the contest will air on FloSports. The Tigers lost 74-71 to No. 25 Iowa in Friday’s first semifinal.

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