Cal Comes Up Short At Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The California men's basketball team fell in frustrating fashion in its final regular season game, taking an 80-73 road loss at Wake Forest after leading by 15 in the first half. Dai Dai Ames scored a career-high 31 points for the Golden Bears, although it wasn't enough to get Cal back in front of the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. The Bears are now 21-10 overall and finish ACC play at 9-9, taking the No. 9 seed into the coming ACC Tournament. Wake Forest is now 16-15, 7-11.

The first half seemed to play out largely at the free-throw line, but Cal was still able to build a 37-29 lead at halftime. Wake Forest made more free throws than baskets from the floor, shooting 24 percent overall and going 15-of-19 from the stripe in the first 20 minutes. Cal was shooting 39.3 percent overall and went 12-of-13 from the line, while the Demon Deacons were outrebounding the Bears 21-14 at halftime. Cal was up by one in the second half before Wake Forest mounted a 14-0 run to take control. The Bears finished out the game shooting 35.6 percent overall, going 8-of-29 from 3-point range and 23-of-28 from the free-throw line. Wake Forest shot 41.1 percent overall with seven threes made and a 27-of-35 effort from the stripe. Cal also was outrebounded 45-29.

Ames' career-high 31 points was paired with Justin Pippen's 17 points to lead the Bears' scoring on the day. Wake Forest also received a 31-point outing, with Juke Harris matching Ames' total while also hauling in 15 rebounds. Mekhi Mason and Omaha Biliew added 10 points apiece for the Demon Deacons.

Cal climbed out to a 7-0 lead on a 3-pointer from Dai Dai Ames, a strike down low from Lee Dort and a finish in the paint from Justin Pippen. Wake Forest got buckets to fall next, only to see the Bears strike off on an 11-0 rally to lead it 18-5 at the 10-minute mark. A couple Demon Deacon free throws fell to break that up, but Wake Forest would fail to score from anywhere but the free-throw line for eight minutes while Cal expanded its advantage to 21-10. Wake Forest's first basket in almost nine minutes came after a sweet finish from Ames, and Justin Pippen went to the line next to make it a 25-13 Cal lead with 6:45 on the clock. Wake Forest managed back-to-back baskets for the first time in the game to make it 32-22 Cal at 3:10. The foul count kept climbing on both sides, leaving much of the scoring coming from the stripe in the final stretch. One last layup from TT Carr had the Bears carrying a 37-29 lead into the locker room.

Pippen hit his first three of the evening to net a 42-33 Cal lead three minutes into the second half, but then Wake Forest buried back-to-back threes to make it a three-point game a minute later. The Demon Deacons' 3-point success picked up from there, with three more falling around a bucket from John Camden, and Wake Forest worked out ahead to a 50-45 lead with 11:45 on the clock. The hosts would rattle off a 14-0 scoring surge to put Cal in a 58-45 hole at 9:25. Ames broke that up with a trip to the line, and Nolan Dorsey tallied Cal's first score from the floor in five minutes to make it 60-49 with 8:10 to go. The Bears were undeterred, however, making a 9-0 answering run to carve it to a one-point game on a 3-pointer from Nolan Dorsey with 4:40 remaining. The Demon Deacons seemed to have an answering bucket or free throw visit each time the Bears came close, however, and the host strung together four straight free throws while the Bears were just off the mark on their looks at the other end. Ames got to 31 points with a 3-pointer landed with 3 seconds left, but Wake Forest had the win already in hand.

NEXT: Cal has secured the No. 9 seed into the coming ACC Tournament, which runs March 10-14 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. The Bears have a first-round bye and will open competition in the second round on March 11 at 7 p.m. ET against No. 8 seed Florida State. 

NOTABLE:

- With a career-high 31 points, Dai Dai Ames scored in double digits for the 27th time this season.

- He's the first Bear to score 30 points in a game this season and marks his 11th time he has scored 20 or mote this season.

- With 17 points, Justin Pippen hit double digits for the 24th time.