Wildcats beat Cal, cut down nets in regular-season finale at McKale Center

Just over an hour after the Arizona Wildcats put away California 89-61 at McKale Center to cap off their magical regular season, with nearly everybody having left the building with a reason to smile, smoke billowed out of the north McKale Center rafters.

Everyone else had to go. Fire alarms screamed and the place was evacuated quickly. McKale Center had both been figuratively on fire with pregame and postgame celebrations and then, maybe, it was literally on fire. (UA police later said a shorted-out HVAC unit was blowing smoke but that there was no fire or significant damage).

However you look at it, there was no doubting the electricity in the air.

The second-ranked Wildcats, who finished the regular season at 28-3 overall and 18-2 in the Pac-12, entered the first season under coach Tommy Lloyd unranked and picked to finish fourth in the conference.

“From where we started to where we are now, I didn’t expect that,” Lloyd said. “This is what I came down here to try to do. I didn’t have a timeline on it but, I guess, why not now?”

Why not? Though they wobbled under the emotion of the afternoon, allowing Cal to go on an 11-2 run at the end of the first half to cut their lead to single digits at halftime, the Wildcats put on a show with that featured both veterans and potential future stars.

Sophomore Oumar Ballo led the Wildcats with 16 points on perfect shooting while sophomore Pelle Larsson was one of three players scoring 13 points and lightly used freshman Adama Bal had seven points while playing 17 minutes.

Meanwhile, two guys likely on their way out also scored 13 points each: Justin Kier, who made a senior day start over Kerr Kriisa at point guard, and Bennedict Mathurin, who is a projected lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

The Wildcats’ collective efforts led to a postgame photograph-and-net-snipping ceremony on the floor after the game, during which Lloyd grabbed the microphone and encouraged the crowd to begin loud “Air-uh-zone-uh” chants and told them to “BTFD.” (the emphatic acronym for “Bear Down.”)

Not surprisingly, he also praised players that wound up winning the Pac-12 title with an 18-2 record — the first team ever to win 18 Pac-12 games, though the league just moved to 20 games last season — even though the Wildcats were picked to finish fourth.

“These dudes are unbelievable,” Lloyd said. “What they gave me this year has inspired me to coach forever. They practice their ass off every day and they handle me being on them. It’s such a special group to be around.

“Guys, I love you now and forever.”

Now 28-3 overall, the Wildcats will next face either No. 8 seed ASU or No. 9 seed Stanford in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. Thursday. ASU and Stanford will play a first-round game on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Cal finished the regular season at 12-19 and 5-15. The Bears will either be the No. 10 Pac-12 Tournament seed if Colorado beats Utah on Saturday or the No. 11 seed if Utah beats Colorado.

During Saturday’s game, Ballo built his 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting – most of them were dunks – and also hit both free throws he took. Mathurin added six rebounds while Kier added five rebounds and three assists.

Overall, the Wildcats shot 62.5% from the field and held Cal to just 38.5%. The Bears made just 3 of 15 3-pointers. Jordan Shepherd led Cal with 16 points but was just 5 for 14 from the field.

030622-tuc-spt-uabk-p2 — Arizona center Oumar Ballo celebrates after slamming home a dunk.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Arizona led by up to 19 points in the first half but Cal cut the Wildcats’ lead to 40-31 by going on an 11-2 run to close out the half. But the Wildcats quickly made up for it early in the second half, shooting 55.6% over the first eight minutes to take a 57-41 lead with 11:58 left in the game.

Arizona led 72-52 with six minutes left, having shot 61% from the field for the second half to that point, and Lloyd from there went with a lineup of Christian Koloko, Kerr Kriisa and three reserves including reserve guard Shane Nowell, who had sat out the Wildcats’ last three games for unspecified reasons.

In the first half, Ballo scored 11 points while hitting all five field goals he took to lead Arizona to a 40-31 halftime lead.

Arizona shot 60.0% from the field while keeping Cal to just 37.0% and outrebounded the Bears 15-13.

Arizona scored just three seconds into the game when Mathurin dunked after the Wildcats won the opening tipoff, though they didn’t hit a field goal again for another five minutes when Larsson dunked and converted a three-point play to give UA a 7-4 lead with 14:34 left in the first half.

But from there, the Wildcats went on a 19-3 run, getting three dunks and a rebound basket inside from Ballo while Bal also hit a 3-pointer in a rare first-half appearance, before Cal went on its 11-2 run to close out the first half.

030622-tuc-spt-uabk-p3 — Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin slams home the first score of Saturday afternoon's win over Cal.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Lloyd said it was about time to feature Bal more often.

“You’ve got a coach here who’s probably been holding a really talented French kid a little bit back here,” Lloyd said. “He’s really been coming on.”

Lloyd said he wasn’t necessarily trying to prepare Bal for potential use in the postseason as much as he said he wanted to reward him for working hard behind the scenes.

Either way, Bal figures to be on the floor a lot more in the future. Kier backed up Lloyd on that one.

“That kid’s gonna be special,” Kier said. “I truly think he’s gonna be an NBA player. I truly do. He’s got the talent. He learns, he listens. That’s the best thing he could do is listen and then the coaching staff do a great job with him.”

But, of course, Saturday was also about the veterans, with Kier and Mathurin probably making their last appearances at McKale Center. Before the game, UA held a senior day ceremony to honor Kier along with UA managers Luke Handley and Austin Torres.

Kier played four seasons at George Mason and last season at Georgia before joining the Wildcats last summer by taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility given all players who participated during the COVID-hampered 2020-21 season.

“Best decision I ever made,” Kier told the crowd after the game. “I’m not satisfied, either. I love you guys and we’re gonna keep this going.”