In retrospect, the best ticket on Tuesday might have been Crabbe-Cobbs.
The junior guards combined for 50 points in the Cal men’s basketball team’s 89-80 exhibition win over San Francisco State at Haas Pavilion.
Swingman Allen Crabbe tallied 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He was deadly from behind the arc, hitting 4-of-8 3-pointers. Point guard Justin Cobbs had 22 points and five assists, getting to the rim at will and making all 12 of his free throw attempts.
But Crabbe and Cobbs had to play 37 and 34 minutes, respectively — much too many minutes in an exhibition game against a low-tier opponent.
“Obviously it wasn’t good for us defensively,” Crabbe said. “We gave up 80 points, so obviously we need to go back and start coming out with more intensity and stop taking our opponents so lightly and play better team defense.”
The Bears jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead but allowed the Gators to stay competitive by turning the ball over 12 times and giving up 17 offensive rebounds. In the second half, San Francisco State shot 45.9 percent and made 6-of-12 threes.
“Defensively we were poor,” said Cal coach Mike Montgomery. “We obviously couldn’t defend, and they spread the court and went five out and just took the point of attack from five different positions.”
Starting big men David Kravish and Richard Solomon combined for 22 points and 17 boards.
Brandon Smith scored 14 points in his return to the starting lineup, but the senior injured his shoulder late in the game.
Cal opens its season on Sunday at 7 p.m. against CSU Bakersfield at Haas Pavilion.
Jonathan Kuperberg covers men’s basketball. Contact him at [email protected].
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