SPOKANE, Wash. — No one in the Cal locker room was saying so, but Friday felt like the end of an era.
A very short era.
Where the Bears go from here is anyone’s guess after a disappointing and sudden end to their season with a 77-66 loss to underdog Hawaii in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at the Spokane Arena.
Do freshmen Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb leave for the NBA?
Neither was ready to address the topic after the game, but both are projected as lottery picks and few anticipate they will remain at Berkeley.
Does second-year coach Cuonzo Martin return?
Amid an expanding campus inquiry into his response to a scandal that led to assistant coach Yann Hufnagel’s firing Monday for alleged sexual harassment of a female reporter, no one can predict the next chapter of his career. Even perhaps Martin, who didn’t sound rattled by everything that happened all week.
“My situation will be what I determine it will be, so I am fine,” he said. “If you’re talking about Ivan and Jaylen, there’s plenty of time to talk about whatever they decide to do.”
The avalanche of bad news for Cal continued Friday, two days after senior point guard Tyrone Wallace broke his hand in practice, ending his college career.
Jabari Bird, the Bears’ other starting guard, was unable to play because of back spasms that first developed during a light Thursday practice, then worsened before the game.
He called it a tight pain in his lower back and said he hoped to play even when he went out for pregame warm-ups. “Two minutes before the game, I knew I didn’t have it,” Bird said. “I could barely jump.”
“The Jabari thing caught me off guard, but I still felt good about the game,” Rabb said. “I’m still trying to figure everything out. It hit quick — the end of the season. We wanted it so bad.”
Brown said none of the obstacles were excuses. “We still had every chance to win this game,” he said. “We were more than capable. We have the talent.”
Certainly the Bears — even short-handed — arrived with stronger credentials than the Warriors (28-5), champions of the Big West Conference.
Brown and Rabb were top-10 national recruits whose presence elevated the Bears to No. 14 in the preseason AP Top-25. After some early-season growing pains, Cal (23-11) won nine of its final 11 regular-season games to earn a No. 23 ranking and No. 4 seeding in the NCAA’s South region.
But Brown had a miserable game against Hawaii, scoring four points, grabbing one rebound, committing seven turnovers and playing only 17 minutes before fouling out.
His foul trouble, combined with the absences of Wallace and Bird, played a role in allowing the Rainbow Warriors to win their first-ever NCAA tournament game. They got 19 and 17 points, respectively, from East Bay natives Quincy Smith and Roderick Bobbitt.
Junior guard Jordan Mathews, who replaced Bird in the starting lineup, scored 23 points for the Bears. Rabb had 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season. Sam Singer, who started for Wallace, scored a season-high 12 points before fouling out in the final minute.
Without Wallace and Bird, and saddled by foul problems, the Bears needed 48 minutes of playing time from Brandon Chauca, Roger Moute a Bidias and Stephen Domingo, whose combined season scoring average was 3.4 points. They shot 0 for 11.
For Brown, his recent struggles continued. Regarded as a potential top-5 NBA pick, the 6-foot-7 forward from Atlanta scored a season-low in points, shot 1 for 6 from the field and fouled out with 6:22 left and his team trailing 61-53.
“I’ve got a lot to learn,” he said quietly in a corner of Cal’s dressing room.
Bird echoed the consensus among the Bears that the loss wasn’t the result of the week’s distractions.
“I thought we were pretty mature about it. We stayed away from talking about it as much as possible and tried to focus on the basketball game,” he said. “I don’t have anything negative to say. We did the best we could.”
For more on Cal sports, see the Bear Talk blog at ibabuzz.com/beartalk. Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter at twitter.com/Jeff Faraudo.
