Cal hires Mark Madsen as head coach

Associated PressMar 30, 2023, 12:20 AM EDT

Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

BERKELEY, Calif. – California hired a former Stanford star to revive its struggling program.

The Golden Bears announced that Mark Madsen was signed to replace the fired Mark Fox following the worst season in school history.

“We conducted an exhaustive search, and one name kept rising to the top – and that’s Mark Madsen,” athletic director Jim Knowlton said. “Mark is a person of high character, high energy, high intensity, and he’s done it the right way. He’s intense. He’s passionate. He loves his student-athletes, and he loves competing. We want an ambassador for this program who is going to make us proud and develop our young men – both on and off the court. I am absolutely thrilled that Mark will lead our program into the future.”

Madsen played at Stanford under Mike Montgomery, who later coached at Cal, from 1996 to 2000 and helped the Cardinal reach the Final Four in 1998.

After a nine-year playing career in the NBA that featured two titles as a backup on the Lakers in 2001-02, Madsen went into coaching.

He spent time in the NBA’s developmental league and a year at Stanford before spending five seasons on the Lakers staff.

Madsen then was hired in 2019 to take over Utah Valley. He posted a 70-51 record in four years with a 28-9 mark this season before losing on Tuesday night in the NIT semifinals to UAB.

“Having grown up in the area, I have always admired Cal as an institution and as an athletic program, with so many of my teachers, coaches and friends impressive Cal graduates,” Madsen said. “We will win with young men who have elite academic and athletic talent and who will represent Cal with pride.”

Madsen is the third prominent coach to flip sides in recent years in the Bay Area rivalry between Cal and Stanford. The Cardinal hired former Cal quarterback Troy Taylor to take over the football program last season and Bears women’s basketball coach Charmin Smith played and coached as an assistant at Stanford.

Madsen is faced with a tough task, taking over a program that went 3-29 under Fox and set a school record for most losses and worst winning percentage in a season.

Cal went 38-87 during Fox’s tenure, ending his final season on a 16-game losing streak. Fox’s .304 winning percentage ranking second worst in school history to predecessor Wyking Jones’ 16-47 mark (.254) in the two seasons before Fox arrived.

The Bears haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and haven’t won a game in the tournament since 2013 under Montgomery.

Adding to the issues for Fox was the complete lack of interest in the program. Cal’s home attendance averaged just 2,155 this season for the lowest mark among any team in the Power 5 or Big East. That’s down from an average of 9,307 per game in Cuonzo Martin’s last season in 2016-17 and from 5,627 the year before Fox arrived.

Cal had the worst winning percentage among any school in the six major conferences during Fox’s tenure. The Bears also were the lowest-scoring team (62.4 points per game) in all Division I under Fox and had the worst scoring margin of any major conference team under Fox.

Cal fires coach Mark Fox after school’s worst-ever season

Associated PressMar 10, 2023, 12:42 AM EST

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

BERKELEY, Calif. – California men’s basketball coach Mark Fox was fired Thursday following the worst season in school history.

The Golden Bears finished 3-29 in Fox’s fourth season as coach following a 69-52 loss Wednesday in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament against Washington State. Cal set a school record for most losses and worst winning percentage in a season.

Cal went 38-87 in Fox’s tenure, ending his final season on a 16-game losing streak. Fox’s .304 winning percentage ranking second worst in school history to predecessor Wyking Jones’ 16-47 mark (.254) in the two seasons before Fox arrived.

“I want to thank Mark for his unwavering commitment to our men’s basketball program,” Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said in a news release. “He led the team through some challenging times, and always did so with the class and professionalism we have come to expect from him. … I wish him the best of luck in the future.

“This was a difficult decision and one that I do not take lightly. After deliberately and holistically evaluating all aspects of our program, I felt a change was needed at this time,” Knowlton said.

The Bears said they will immediately begin a search for a coach. That person will be tasked with reviving a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and hasn’t won a game in the tournament since 2013 under Mike Montgomery.

Fox couldn’t even get close, posting a losing record in all four seasons.

The Bears were coming off back-to-back eight-win seasons when Fox was hired in 2019 to replace Jones. Cal showed some progress in Fox’s first season by going 14-18 but quickly regressed as the program struggled following the impact of the pandemic.

The Bears went 9-20 in 2020-21, 12-20 the following season and bottomed out this season when they were tied with Green Bay for the worst winning percentage in all Division I and set a record for most losses in a season in conference history.

Fox had gone to the tournament five times in his two previous head coaching stops, taking Nevada there in 2005-07 and then Georgia in 2011 and 2015. Fox had a winning record in 11 of 14 seasons before arriving at Cal, with a 286-176 overall mark.

Washington State women rally past Cal in Pac-12 Tournament

Associated PressMar 2, 2023, 12:35 AM EST

Syndication: Arizona Republic

LAS VEGAS – Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 23 points, Bella Murekatete had a double-double and Washington State rallied to defeat California 61-49 in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday night.

After trailing for most of the first three quarters, a layup by Jessica Clarke gave the Cougars a five-point lead with 6:10 to go in regulation. The lead reached 53-45 1 1/2 minutes later when Astera Tuhina connected on a 3-pointer, just WSU’s second of the game in 15 attempts. Tuhina added a jumper on WSU’s next possession and the lead was 55-45 with 3:32 remaining.

Cal got within 55-49 on a fastbreak layup by Leilani McIntosh with 2:20 to go, but the Golden Bears did not score again.

Leger-Walker made 8 of 15 shots and 6 of 8 free throws to go with six rebounds and two assists. Murekatete had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Tuhina added nine points and four assists for Washington State (20-10).

Jayda Curry scored 16 points for the Golden Bears (13-17) and no other starter scored more than five. Ugonne Onyiah and Mia Mastrov scored 10 points each off the bench.

After Cal led 27-21 at halftime, a 3-pointer from Leger-Walker got the No. 7 seed Cougars within 38-36 with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter. The Cougars hadn’t been that close since they trailed 11-10 in the first minute of the second quarter. The score was tied twice later in the third quarter and WSU took a 44-42 lead into the fourth period after Leger-Walker made two free throws with 15 seconds left in the period.

Washington State has won 20 games for the first time in the NCAA-era for women’s basketball. The 1978-79 team won 21 games.

Washington State advances to play No. 2-seed and regular-season co-champion Utah in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Jones’ hot hand powers No. 2 Stanford past rival Cal 90-69

Associated PressDec 23, 2022, 6:12 PM EST

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

STANFORD, Calif. – Haley Jones hit her initial six shots and scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and four assists, leading No. 2 Stanford past California 90-69 on Friday in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both schools.

Hannah Jump knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to 17 points to emphatically bounce back after missing all five of her tries from long range in Tuesday’s 72-59 home win against No. 21 Creighton. It was her first game without making a 3 since an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game vs. Texas last March.

Cameron Brink had 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks while Kiki Iriafen added nine points and seven boards as Stanford (13-1, 1-0 Pac-12). The Cardinal got 26 points from the bench in its eighth straight victory since a 76-71 overtime setback to top-ranked South Carolina at home on Nov. 20.

Jayda Curry scored 20 points and Leilani McIntosh added 17 for Cal (9-3, 0-1), which came in averaging 76.1 points and allowing 83.8. The Cardinal haven’t given up more than 77 points to an opponent since the end of the 2019-20 season.

Pac-12 favorite Stanford has won the last eight meetings in the rivalry, which currently features all-time winningest women’s coach and Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer of Stanford opposite former Cardinal star Charmin Smith beginning her fourth season in Berkeley.

BIG PICTURE

California: Cal has lost 12 of 14 to Stanford overall and eight straight at Maples Pavilion since a win here on Feb. 22, 2015. … The Bears made their final three field goals of the second quarter yet trailed 47-29 at halftime. … Former Cal and Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour was again here at Maples today. She retired this year.

Stanford: Brink has 43 blocks through the first 14 games. … Stanford has held 77 of its last 83 opponents to 41.8% shooting or below, with Cal finishing at 39%. … The Cardinal held a 25-10 rebounding advantage in the first half and 48-25 overall. … Stanford is 37-8 vs. Cal on its home floor. The Cardinal are 8-1 at home this season. … Stanford was 2 of 9 from 3-point range in the opening half then wound up 7 for 24.

UP NEXT

California: Hosts No. 18 Arizona on Dec. 31.

Stanford: Hosts Arizona State on Dec. 31.

No. 2 Arizona beats California 89-61 for 18th Pac-12 win

Associated PressMar 6, 2022, 12:47 PM EST

Rebecca Noble / Stringer / Getty Images

TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd was asked earlier this week whether his team would cut down the nets for winning the Pac-12 regular-season championship after Saturday’s game against California.

Only if the Wildcats won, he said.

No problem there. No. 2 Arizona closed out its first season under Lloyd in dominating fashion, crushing Cal 89-61 to become the first Pac-12 team to win 18 conference games.

Oumar Ballo scored 16 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 13 and the Wildcats celebrated the Pac-12 title they clinched on Tuesday by snipping the nets. Pelle Larsson and senior Justin Kier scored 13 each.

“From where we started and where we are now, I didn’t expect that,” said Lloyd, pointing to the Pac-12 championship trophy. “I just didn’t want to celebrate it early.”

Arizona (28-3, 18-2) sewed up its first conference title in four years with a 91-71 win over No. 16 Southern California on Tuesday, then had a sluggish first half two days later against Stanford before pulling away.

The Wildcats dominated the conference’s other Bay Area team early, building a 17-point lead midway through the first half with a 19-2 run.

Arizona shot 65% and scored 49 points in the paint to finish 17-0 at home in its first season under Lloyd – not bad for a team that started the season unranked and was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12.

“Once we got to where we needed to be, we wanted more, we were still hungry,” said Kier, who played his final home game. “We’re going to continue to be hungry until we get what we want.”

Cal (12-19, 5-15) played well for stretches without point guard Joel Brown due to a knee injury, but couldn’t recover from Arizona’s big early run. Jordan Shepherd led the Bears with 16 points.

“We got a little fatigued and made some costly errors there in the second half defensively,” Cal coach Mark Fox said. “Against a team with as much talent as they have, you cannot afford to do that.”

Arizona dominated the first meeting with Cal on Jan. 23, building a 14-point lead in the opening six minutes on the way to a 96-71 win. The rematch played out in similar fashion.

Creating transition opportunities with their defense and pounding the ball inside, the Wildcats reeled off a 19-2 run to build a 26-9 lead midway through the first half. Ballo had 11 points during the run, including three rim-shaking dunks.

Arizona cooled a bit down the stretch of the first half – one field goal over the final 4:20 – but Mathurin made consecutive 3-pointers early in the second to get the rout going again. Arizona hit seven of its first 10 shots to stretch the lead to 66-46 and hit 15 of 23 in the second half.

Cal had its worst offensive game of the season to kick off the final weekend of the regular season, having shot 31% in a 27-point loss to Arizona State on Thursday.

The Bears brought their offensive struggles down Interstate 10 to Tucson, clanging one shot after another early. Cal bounced back from Arizona’s big run and started hitting a few shots, closing with a 14-4 run to pull within 40-31 at halftime. Aside from a few more good offensive stretches in the second half, the Bears but couldn’t stop Arizona defensively.

“Some of those costly errors early, if we could have cleaned those up, we could have been even at the half,” Fox said. “Our second-half defense, we just gave up too big of a (shooting) percentage.”

BIG PICTURE

California: Closes the season with four losses in five games. The Bears had some good stretches in one of college basketball’s toughest road venues, though, which could help them in the Pac-12 Tournament next week.

Arizona: Capped one of the best home seasons in Pac-12 history with a dominating performance. Now on to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament, where the Wildcats will be hoping to lock up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

BAL’S IMPACT

Arizona’s Adama Bal has seen limited time during his freshman season as Lloyd has tried to acclimate the French guard to the college game.

The athletic 6-foot-6 Bal has made strides in practice and Lloyd rewarded him with extensive playing time.

Bal entered the game early, hit his first shot and scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in 17 minutes.

“It’s kind of like when you have a talented pitcher and you leave him in the minors until he’s ready,” Lloyd said. “He was ready.”

UP NEXT

California: Opens the Pac-12 tournament Wednesday.

Arizona: The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and have a first-round bye; the next game is Thursday’s quarterfinals against the Arizona State-Stanford winner.

No. 3 Arizona gets another blowout, beating California 96-71

Associated PressJan 23, 2022, 7:19 PM EST

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

BERKELEY, Calif.- Christian Koloko had 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks to lead No. 3 Arizona past California 96-71 on Sunday afternoon.

Bennedict Mathurin added 14 points and eight rebounds for Arizona (16-1, 6-0 Pac-12), while Oumar Ballo scored 14 and Kerr Krissa had 13 with four 3-pointers.

The Wildcats are off to their best start since winning 21 straight to open the 2013-14 season. This season’s only loss came against then-No. 19 Tennessee on Dec. 22.

“It’s what you hope for on the road, that you come out and, from start to finish, your team is solid and they execute the plan,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd. “We did a really good job of dictating what they were doing on the offensive end, and then on our end of the floor getting into our movement.”

Arizona won handily despite being without second-leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis, who suffered a lower-body injury Thursday against Stanford. It hardly mattered.

The Wildcats had a 14-point lead six minutes into the game, were ahead 21 at halftime and led by 29 on the way to their 10th consecutive win over the Bears.

Up next for Arizona: Its toughest stretch of the season, with two upcoming games against No. 9 UCLA and another against No. 16 USC. Justin Kier, who had 10 points and six rebounds on Sunday, said all the Wildcats have to do is “go play our game.”

“If you look too deep into these games, that’s where you go out and try to do things that you’re not supposed to do,” Kier said. “We’re not going to change up anything.”

Jordan Shepherd scored 21 points for the Golden Bears (9-10, 2-6).

California coach Mark Fox was ejected in the first half after picking up two technical fouls. At one point, a clearly angry Fox walked onto the court and yelled toward a referee before an assistant walked Fox back to the bench.

“My frustration wasn’t just about tonight. My frustration was (about) some things that built up to it,” Fox said. “The official decided, like in third grade, to instigate a staring contest and, like in third grade, I took the bait and got my second technical and put our team in a tough spot.”

Cal made its best push coming out of halftime and got within 56-40, but Kriisa made a pair of 3s and Arizona scored 13 straight to pull away.

Kriisa’s fourth 3-pointer put the Wildcats ahead 78-49.

With a small but vocal group of Arizona fans in Haas Pavilion, the Wildcats went on runs of 17-3 and 15-3 in the first half on their way to a fifth consecutive blowout.

Mathurin provided a bulk of the early scoring against the Pac-12’s top scoring defense but it was the Wildcats’ big tandem of Koloko and Ballo that did the most damage. The two 7-footers combined for 20 points and eight rebounds in the first half to help Arizona go up 48-27.

“I’ve been working with Oumar every day after practice,” Koloko said. “We’ve got some connection. It’s great to see him play the way he played today and the way he played against Stanford.”

BIG PICTURE

Arizona: With Gonzaga and Auburn both idle, there’s little chance the Cats will move up in the rankings – but another lopsided victory for Tommy Lloyd’s team put them in good position heading into their toughest stretch of the Pac-12 schedule. Three of the next four games are against Top 25 teams (two against No. 9 UCLA), with the other against rival Arizona State. Arizona’s only scare Sunday came when Kier took a hard fall in the first half and had to be helped to the locker room. He returned in the second half.

California: Whatever momentum the Bears built in the early season has been erased by their fifth straight loss. Fox’s ejection was understandable. Cal missed 10 of its first 12 shots and trailed by 24 when he got tossed. The Bears haven’t beaten a Top 5 team since 2014 when they defeated No. 1 Arizona.

UP NEXT

Arizona: At No. 9 UCLA on Tuesday.

California: At No. 9 UCLA on Thursday.