Ed Gray scored a career-high 32 points on Tuesday night. That’s definitely good.
Gray, California’s 6-foot-3 senior guard, didn’t score in the final 10:55 of the Golden Bears’ 85-67 loss to Kansas in the Maui Invitational semifinals at the Lahaina Civic Center.
That’s not so good, not good at all.
“I was just out there playing. Whatever they did to try and stop me, I didn’t notice. I didn’t care. I just wanted our team to be successful,” said Gray, who scored 19 points the first half as the Bears lagged, 37-34, at the break.
“My general performance was good,” noted Gray, who was guarded by Paul Pierce the first half and both Pierce and Jerod Haase in the second. “But we got an ‘L.’ I’d rather score five and get a ‘W.”‘
He scored way more than five, yet KU eventually wore out the Bears, ending the game with a brutal 17-0 run.
“I was trying to get to the line and get their big men in foul trouble,” noted Gray, who hit 12 of 24 shots and five of seven three throws. “I was trying to take it to the hole but my production fell off. We gave it a good shot against that team. We thought we could beat them but we came up short.”
Cal coach Ben Braun says there’s a good reason KU ended the game on such a roll.
“I believe fatigue started setting in,” said Braun, whose Bears were sparked by the play of pivot Sean Marks, who had 13 points on six-of-eight shooting. “They ran some numbers at us. We talk about playing through fatigue. Sometimes it’s easier said than done.
“When you are tired, you tend to stand around and get lazy. Ask me a big difference … look at the rebound margin.”
Led by Scot Pollard’s 10 boards and Raef LaFrentz’s nine, KU outrebounded Cal a whopping 49-23. Gray had seven boards for Cal.
“Every time they made a run they got second shots,” Braun said. “They pounded the glass. I think our guys got fatigued and that was a big factor in the game.”
Ryan Robertson had nine assists for the second straight game. “Ryan was important for us tonight,” Williams said.
Referee Bruce Shapiro tagged Roy Williams with a second-half technical foul call. … Cal shot 19 free throws the second half before KU attempted its first charity. The Jayhawks hit 20 of 22 free throws; Cal 14 of 23. … KU leads the all-time series against Cal, 12-3. KU has won seven straight and 12 of the last 13 meetings. Prior to Tuesday, KU won the most recent meeting, 73-56, in the second round of the 1993-94 Preseason NIT in Lawrence. KU also beat Cal in the 1993 Midwest Regional semifinals in St. Louis. KU’s Jerod Haase played for the Bears in that game. … KU is 7-5 all-time in games played in Hawaii. KU has won 14 straight games in November. The Jayhawks are 21-2 in November in nine seasons under Williams. …The Cavaliers, who have beaten South Carolina and UMass in Maui, are coached by Jeff Jones.
