Seen and heard at Haas Pavilion: On a scary fall, a staring contest and a David Miller sighting

For the second straight game, the Wildcats had a player hit the floor hard. On Thursday at Stanford, it was Azuolas Tubelis spraining an ankle. On Sunday at Cal, it was guard Justin Kier smashing his left wrist.

“I think I hit the ground a little harder,” than Tubelis, Kier said, laughing.

After his fall, Kier walked off the court and winced while he tried to flex the wrist. Athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie examined him in the corner of Haas Pavilion, but Kier proved healthy enough to keep playing.

He pledged to do the same on Tuesday at UCLA.

“We’re gonna obviously do some treatment, but I’m gonna play regardless,” Kier said.

Fox loses ‘staring contest’Cal coach Mark Fox was sent packing after he picked up two quick technical fouls within an 89-second period late in the first half.

Fox said his frustration was a result of “some things” that had built up to the moment.

“The official decided — like in third grade — to instigate a staring contest and I took the bait,” Fox said. “I got the second technical and put our team in a tough spot. But I’m always gonna fight for our players. I can promise you that.”

Fox’s ejection may have helped perk up the Bears. They were trailing 42-19 when he left the game, but Cal was outscored just 54-52 after that.

Gold (and red) OutAs much as teams hosting Arizona have tried to put on “Gold/Blue/Whatever Out” games against the Wildcats, it rarely works.

Especially in the Bay area, where the combination of UA’s alumni base and small home team crowds often results in an arena in which about a third of everyone is rooting for the Wildcats.

On Sunday, Cal gave out free Gold Out T-shirts to anyone who wanted one — one UA fan even had one draped over the shoulder of his red sweatshirt — but less than half the crowd actually wore them.

Many other fans either wore Cal blue or Arizona red. But as much as anything, there were just empty seats.

Beach boysEven though the Wildcats are on a week-long road trip, the Sunday game at Cal gave them a chance to fly immediately to Los Angeles.

That meant they could spend the next two nights at a hotel along the beach in Santa Monica before playing at UCLA on Tuesday night.

“We’ll go down and have a great dinner,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I’m sure we’ll meet as coaches and we’ll start putting together a plan.”

Bear protocolsWhile Stanford didn’t let fans into its games at all this weekend, and UCLA hasn’t been able to until it faces Arizona on Tuesday, Cal has continued to allow fans into Haas Pavilion if they show proof of full vaccination or a negative test result (within a day of an antigen test or within two days of a PCR test).

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Inside Haas Pavilion, signs reminded fans that face masks were also “REQUIRED” regardless of vaccination status and roughly 90% of them wore masks.

Eco-BearsAlso apparently eco-friendly, Cal’s concession stands did not offer straws or plastic lids at concession stands, and sold drinks only in reusable cups featuring its “Oski” mascot and/or the Bears’ football team.

Miller returnsWhen guard Kerr Kriisa walked off the floor during pregame warmups, he did a double-take at David Miller and then wrapped a hug around the former UA staffer who left to become an assistant coach at San Jose State this season.

“I literally came to see you,” Miller told Kriisa.

Miller said he squeezed in the UA-Cal game between a return from a game at UNLV on Sunday and a recruiting trip Sunday evening.

Opportunity for GorenerShortly after Miller left for San Jose State, then-UA wing Tibet Gorener transferred to the Spartans, where he’s carved out a drastically different role this season.

A 6-foot-7 wing from Turkey, Gorener played in just eight games last season, averaging 3.7 minutes and hit 3 of 9 3-pointers for the season.

At SJSU, Gorener has started 11 of 15 games, while starting the last nine straight in part because of injuries to other teammates. He’s taking 71.0% of his shots from beyond the 3-point line and is hitting 3s at a 35.5% rate.

“Playing actual minutes has been great for him,” Miller said.

Zu goes greenTubelis may not have had many reasons to smile before Sunday’s game, having to sit out with a sprained ankle, but graduate assistant Ryan Anderson got one out of him.

In earshot of Tubelis as he worked out the Wildcats during pregame warmups, Anderson announced:

“We’ve got a new member of the Green Team — Azuolas Tubelis!” Anderson said.

The UA “Green Team” are the players assigned to mostly work with the scout team, mimicking the Wildcats’ upcoming opponents. The group of mostly walk-ons wears green jerseys for that duty, while others typically wear gray or blue.

Quotable“There’s no doubt they can win a national championship. They have all the things that are required to do so, whether it’s bigs, wings, a point guard, shooting, defense. They are absolutely a threat to win the national championship.”

— Cal coach Mark Fox, on Arizona.

The big number13 — Rebounds from Christian Koloko over just 27 minutes, setting a new career-high after pulling down 11 against UTRGV and Wichita State