We regret to inform that none of your loyal scribes were able to watch this game then write about it — which is to say; we were unavailable, except for one of us at the game as a visiting civilian with no intention of sitting down at a computer afterwards. Which is for the best as it turns out! San Diego State lost to the University of California men’s basketball team 89-83 in Berkeley.
The loss to Pac-12 cellar-dwelling Cal drops SDSU into the college hoops wilderness. With a résumé of a 30-point loss to Iowa State, a home loss to little crosstown rival USD and this loss to a bad Cal team, the Aztecs are now 5-4 and have squandered virtually any chance of an at-large berth to the big dance. It’s Mountain West tourney champs or bust, y’all, and it’s hard to imagine this iteration putting together a miracle run like last season, even if No. 6 Nevada weren’t standing in the way.
Jalen McDaniels led the Aztecs with 20 points and Jeremy Hemsley had 19, including 5 of 6 on threes. Neither was enough to keep the Golden Bears from finishing the game on an 18-5 run over the last 3:53. Justice Sueing led Cal with 23 points.
Feel free to read the box score and weep, and here’s Mark Zeigler’s U-T gamer.
SDSU returns home to face Division II powerhouse Cal State Dominguez Hills this Wednesday in a game that is sure to be enthusiastically attended. The Aztecs then host BYU on December 22.