photo via @calmbball twitter

We Cal fans have been lucky enough to enjoy some incredible individual seasons. Since 1994, seven difference Bears have won conference player of the year. The list includes NBA all stars like Jason Kidd and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and program legends like Jerome Randle and Jorge Gutierrez.

Jaylon Tyson probably isn’t going to win Pac-12 player of the year this season. But I will remember his 2023-24 season as fondly as I remember a number of other spectacular individual seasons from other Cal luminaries.

I’ll remember his versatility. The sheer variety to his offensive game, the different ways that he scored or set up his team mates. I’ll remember his toughness, playing through various bangs and bruises and never shying away from contact at the basket. I’ll remember his growth, as he overcame growing pains taking on a bigger role as a ball-handler and facilitator within the offense.

Most of all, I’ll remember how smooth he was, and how quietly he could score points. How he uses body control and start-stop speed to get easy looks, and how he would quietly score 20 points and if you weren’t paying attention you might not even realize he’d done it.

They story of the weekend was that for the first time this year Cal won a Pac-12 game without a major scoring contribution from Tyson. Which is to say that Cal needed to tie a program record for most made 3s just to hold off the worst team in the conference at home. (Now is the time where we pause and laugh at Stanford). Yeah, Jaylon Tyson’s scoring is pretty important for this team.

And against Oregon he poured in 27, primarily on his typically diverse range of moves to get buckets around the basket. And that was really the difference in this game, the biggest reason Cal won.

The rebounding battle? Pretty even. Turnovers? Even. Three point shooting? Both teams were mired at around 25%.

But Cal shot 50% of their two pointers, while Oregon shot 41%, and that was enough to scratch out a close win. And it was Jaylon Tyson who was responsible for more than half of Cal’s made two pointers. Hell, even when he missed a shot, like he did on a critical possession with Cal up 3 with just under a minute to go, he drew so much attention that it left Fardaws Aimaq wide open under the rim for an easy offensive rebound and put back.

The other major factor in earning this win? Defense. Cal held Oregon to 0.93 points/possession, which is the 2nd lowest mark in Pac-12 play for Oregon this year. Cal did that with the right combination of physicality and good perimeter defense.

The physicality came with Cal’s interior defense. Early in the game, the commentators noted that they were surprised Cal chose not to double up on Oregon’s 6’1’’ center N’Faly Dante, who has shot 65% from the field in Pac-12 play. But doubling anybody inside is a big risk against Oregon because they’re actually a better 3 point shooting team than they are a 2 point shooting team, and Cal lost in Eugene because the Ducks when 10-28 from deep.

So the Bears trusted Fardaws to hold his own inside against Dante, and Cal’s center did enough. Dante did go 6-9, but he turned it over 3 times and was narrowly outrebounded by Fardaws. Even better, by not doubling, Cal was able to chase the Ducks away from the three point line. Oregon shot nine fewer 3s than they did against Cal earlier this year, and shot much worse.

Cal’s defensive physicality had a cost – the Ducks went 20-23 at the free throw line. But that was Oregon’s only source of consistent offense, and it wasn’t enough by itself to beat Cal at Haas.

(Psst. Hey. Don’t look too closely, but Cal is only a half game out of 4th place in the conference right now.)

We’re just three games away from the conclusion of the Pac-12 regular season, and thanks to this home sweep and results around the rest of the conference, we’re not in a wild situation where Cal is actually in competition for a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.

Unfortunately, to do so, Cal will have to pull off some upset wins on the road. Before the regular season finale against Stanford at Maples, first up is Colorado and Utah. The Buffs are 14-1 at home, with the only loss coming to Arizona. Utah is 12-2, with the only loss coming to Arizona and bizarrely, ASU. The mountain schools are a combined 26-1 vs. teams that aren’t Arizona. Scary stuff.

And yet – when Cal lost in Eugene back in Mid-January, I wrote the following:

That’s a team that could close the season at 9-5 and challenge for a .500 or better conference record.

Why do I think that’s possible*? Because Cal is 2-4 despite having played the 2nd toughest set of conference games and has been competitive in all but one game. Because other than Arizona and maaaaybe Utah, nobody in this conference is really scary and Cal can beat any of them on their night. And because Cal might end up having the conference’s leading scorer on their team, and he’s not just chucking up 30 shots a night to do it.

*Please note that I said possible, not likely. The downside risk is that the Pac-12, while lacking in elite teams, doesn’t have many outright bad teams either, and so for Cal to push for a .500 conference record, they’re probably gonna have to win a bunch of close games.

Cal has improbably gone 7-4 since I wrote that, having gone 6-2 in games decided by single digits. It gave us exactly as many gray hairs and heart palpitations as we feared, but they won a bunch of close games and put themselves in a position to earn a .500 conference record or better.

So sure, Colorado and Utah are scary teams when you have to travel to their place. But since the turn of the year Cal has defied every expectation and played competitive games against almost every opponent.

So what the hell. Damn the numbers, damn expectations, damn the altitude. Why settle for a 10-10 conference record? Why not go out there and earn a top 4 seed in the Pac-12 tournament?

What better way to send off the seniors who saved Cal basketball?