bearsandgiants said:

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Safe to say Dut just leapfrogged Kocanas with that performance, right?

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Big block, big bucket, and came over to challenge that last shot by Miami and probably caused the miss.

calbearinamaze said:

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ManBearLion123 said:

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That was the best/biggest W of the season IMO. To win against a very good Miami team on the road without Dort is absolutely massive! GO BEARS!

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Of the decade????

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UNC win was bigger, definitely.

Big C said:

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calumnus said:

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socaltownie said:

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YOU KNOW IT!!!!

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You tell the story!

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YOU TELL THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD...

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THIS IS BEAR TERRITORY.

If we had to get one win in Florida, it was better to get Miami. Losing to FSU sucked, but ultimately it will likely go down as a Quad 2 loss and not super damaging. A Quad 1 win is actively helpful!

Cal88 said:

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calbearinamaze said:

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ManBearLion123 said:

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That was the best/biggest W of the season IMO. To win against a very good Miami team on the road without Dort is absolutely massive! GO BEARS!

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Of the decade????

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UNC win was bigger, definitely.

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I'd say perception-wise, yes…but Miami is very close to UNC as far as metrics go. To beat Miami on the road, without our only ACC-level big, is the more impressive W IMO.

Cal covered by 11.5*




*Cal covered in the Florida State game by 1.5.

Moral of the story:

"Betting on Cal in the state of Florida paid."

Meanwhile the Furd is down by 8 to Florida State at the half.

#201
Angry Ibis said:
It was another terrible loss and this one with a corching timeout... People overreact in game threads all the time. It was a **** loss capped off by a choke job timeout.
It was a bad timeout, yes. Agree with cribby, call it early or let it ride.

But Donaldson also smoked an easy layup. Udeh got stuff by a 130lb Ethiopian. Dante Allen cant make a free throw. Missing a key player in Tru. And the 3 Euros are lets be honest, all fckin useless.

This is not a tournament talent level team, yet Jai has a whole bunch of fools here thinking it is. So that should tell you how good of a job Jai has done as a rookie HC.

Its an insane level of stupidity to call for Jai's head this year. Its simply from ppl who have an agenda or know nothing about basketball

Miami shot 56.9% for the game, outscored Cal in the paint 48-26 (how many dunks for Miami?), outrebounded Cal 32-28 and Cal won. Amazing.
(Ok, 43.5% from Three (10-23) was way better than Miami 4-12 and that was the difference)

oskidunker said:

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#201
Angry Ibis said:
It was another terrible loss and this one with a corching timeout... People overreact in game threads all the time. It was a **** loss capped off by a choke job timeout.
It was a bad timeout, yes. Agree with cribby, call it early or let it ride.

But Donaldson also smoked an easy layup. Udeh got stuff by a 130lb Ethiopian. Dante Allen cant make a free throw. Missing a key player in Tru. And the 3 Euros are lets be honest, all fckin useless.

This is not a tournament talent level team, yet Jai has a whole bunch of fools here thinking it is. So that should tell you how good of a job Jai has done as a rookie HC.

Its an insane level of stupidity to call for Jai's head this year. Its simply from ppl who have an agenda or know nothing about basketball

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That is some great Salt. I am loving that Cal is making them provide it. People are like "how did we lose to them" LOVE IT!!!!

It may not feel like it but we tied them in offensive boards and were close on the defensive end, too. Love to see it, especially with Dort on the bench. Camden played with confidence. This was everything I was hoping for, and we got the W. A perfect night. Go Bears!

Pippen was our leading rebounder with 4.

Drape Piedmont and Bancroft in South Sudanese flags https://t.co/P0OzXDilPv

— Justin Wilcox’s Therapist (@nato_base) February 1, 2026

stu said:

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Pippen was our leading rebounder with 4.

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team effort to pull down 28

I've said all season we should be playing Dut for his defense, plus he is a better rebounder than Mantas

From his very limited early play you could see he has potential as a shot blocker

I haven't watched him closely enough to see if he know what to do on offense and defense within our systems, including setting screens but just saw his raw defensive ability I thought he'd give us something depending on match ups

Happy for him that he made the monster plays in crunch time

Love Madsen. Met him last year at the RSF. What a big ball of intense and friendly energy. The kind of guy for whom you'd run through a barbed-cyclone fence. He coaches liked he played -- all out.

What can you say about Dut? Second basket this year. 6 minutes, 2 points, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds, and 4 fouls. Inspirational clutch performance. His hand was up by the square on the second block. Go South Sudan!

I'm expecting another amazing clubhouse celebration video. These are becoming regular things.

STUNNER IN CORAL GABLES: Cal picks off Miami by one.

Mark Madsen now has the Bears firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 31, 2026

Already posted on IG

Right on cue! Still need the speech one but this will hold me over till it posts! Go Bears!

It’s all about t̶h̶e̶ ̶U̶ ̶ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑳𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑩𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑺! #GoBears | #ThroughAndThrough pic.twitter.com/GKIFX5549U

— Cal Basketball (@CalMBBall) February 1, 2026

We need to jump Va Tech in standings.

They still have Clemson, UNC, Virginia and Miami

We got two more quad 1 teams left....Clemson and SMU. Both at home!

The Haas thread on the Miami game had been morphed into the FSU loss...No wonder we have not interest in putting up the big bucks for BB. No interest on those who have the big bucks or panties in wad from previous coaches and their performance (that's fair), but MM is putting out an increasingly good product....Do they hate him because he is a 'furd...To me he is top drawer.....Myself, getting a bit p*ssed about how FB is getting everything (a good) and BB is getting, well, p*ssed on. Don't have the bucks after 27 years of retirement, but love BB as much as FB. Tosh has tailwinds, MM headwinds....Let us curry a bit of favor to hoops.

goggleman1 said:

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Love Madsen. Met him last year at the RSF. What a big ball of intense and friendly energy. The kind of guy for whom you'd run through a barbed-cyclone fence. He coaches liked he played -- all out.

What can you say about Dut? Second basket this year. 6 minutes, 2 points, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds, and 4 fouls. Inspirational clutch performance. His hand was up by the square on the second block. Go South Sudan!

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Unlike Cal Bigs of the past, Dut may get some serious coaching up by Madsen. I bet Madsen has him doing a ton on Miken drills because I can think of a handful of Cal Bigs of the past that would have drilled the bottom of the f@ucking rim on that key hook put back he made at crunch time in the closing minutes.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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Safe to say Dut just leapfrogged Kocanas with that performance, right?

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Koncanas? He should be leapfrogged ahead of Ilic. He did more in 5 minutes than Ilic did in 25 minutes.

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Get some glasses....Neither a sub for Dort, but there is a reason Kocanas is 2nd up...He does some things very well, but has his arse up his backside at times that kills us.

OdontoBear66 said:

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The Haas thread on the Miami game had been morphed into the FSU loss...No wonder we have not interest in putting up the big bucks for BB. No interest on those who have the big bucks or panties in wad from previous coaches and their performance (that's fair), but MM is putting out an increasingly good product....Do they hate him because he is a 'furd...To me he is top drawer.....Myself, getting a bit p*ssed about how FB is getting everything (a good) and BB is getting, well, p*ssed on. Don't have the bucks after 27 years of retirement, but love BB as much as FB. Tosh has tailwinds, MM headwinds....Let us curry a bit of favor to hoops.

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It is a bit odd that the free board is where the hoop guys hang and how thebpaid is the realm of people obsessing over the portal.

HoopDreams said:

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I've said all season we should be playing Dut for his defense, plus he is a better rebounder than Mantas

From his very limited early play you could see he has potential as a shot blocker

I haven't watched him closely enough to see if he know what to do on offense and defense within our systems, including setting screens but just saw his raw defensive ability I thought he'd give us something depending on match ups

Happy for him that he made the monster plays in crunch time

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Agree. And Dut was really revved up, and he just busted his butt double teaming the ball handler, then hustling back to his man. He looked kind of awkward getting back, but he was never late.

He reminds me so much of Manute Bol, who took the NBA by storm -- for a while, until teams started driving straight at him. I hope Dut remains so effective on D once other teams have seen him on film.

socaltownie said:

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OdontoBear66 said:

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The Haas thread on the Miami game had been morphed into the FSU loss...No wonder we have not interest in putting up the big bucks for BB. No interest on those who have the big bucks or panties in wad from previous coaches and their performance (that's fair), but MM is putting out an increasingly good product....Do they hate him because he is a 'furd...To me he is top drawer.....Myself, getting a bit p*ssed about how FB is getting everything (a good) and BB is getting, well, p*ssed on. Don't have the bucks after 27 years of retirement, but love BB as much as FB. Tosh has tailwinds, MM headwinds....Let us curry a bit of favor to hoops.

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It is a bit odd that the free board is where the hoop guys hang and how thebpaid is the realm of people obsessing over the portal.

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Apparently all the big donors from the days of yore' have just said NO to BB...And yes, I understand the need for FB stepping up in many ways determines our future in athletics but it is a slap in the face how hoops is being treated in a relative sense....I just wonder next year and the year after how big the ante' will be for FB...It has gotten out of hand in two years and does not seem to be self correcting....Is next year's story just gonna be if you want players reach deeper in your pockets....Season tickets for other things will become a lot cheaper.

Call me crazy but it is up to you"8" posts on the Miami game thread on the Haas Board.....Yikes

Gonna give props to all of our bigs.

Dort has been a revelation all season on both sides of the ball.

Illic sets the best screens on the team and his passing ability helps the offense flow, even if you wish he has a little more athleticism.

Kocanas can stretch the floor, seems to understand where he should be (even if he's a step slow) and plays hard.

I thought Dut was one of our best players against K State and was surprised he hasn't gotten a bit more run just on athleticism alone.

He plays on the balls of his feet and looks to challenge everything and his length has a huge impact today.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket; I swear I'm not, but...

If that last shot had gone in for Miami, we would not be seeing all of these exuberant posts, especially about Dut, and the local flag stores would not all suddenly be sold out of South Sudan Flags.

Sorry I felt compelled to say that*. Kudos to all the Bears that contributed to this solid win today. We're having a bit of a breakout season, especially relative to the previous eight. Yes, maybe -- hopefully -- this will result in a lot of folks focusing their donations on Cal basketball.


* somebody's gonna accuse me of not being able to appreciate the game today, so let me just add that I am a season ticket holder who has attended over 500 Cal Basketball games and I assure you I am happy about today's win... and the season in general.

Bell's 16 points was the most since his 20 in our ACC opener against Louisville. Getting him back as a confident scorer is huge.

Dort back healthy with an improved Ilic and now even Dut playing well…. I think our best basketball may be ahead of us.