The NIT might be the last thing on your radar at this point in time, but low and behold, the Cal men’s basketball team is drawing some national attention. During the first half of its 68-66 win over New Mexico last Wednesday, Jerome Randle raced up the floor on a Bears fastbreak with one man between him and a trailing Patrick Christopher. Randle passed the ball off the backboard to Christopher who caught it for the slam dunk, sending the one thousand or so Cal fans in attendance into a frenzy. Sunday night, it was No. 1 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the week, not including NCAA Tournament plays. Jamal Boykin had said after the game, “Hopefully that makes the Top 10!” Well, what do you know?

So Cal has accepted a bid to the National Invitation Tournament and will play No. 5-seed New Mexico on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Since the Bears are the higher seed at No. 4, they will be hosting the Lobos at Haas Pavilion, though with a win, they will likely go on the road as their next opponent will be the winner between No. 1-seed and 2007 NCAA Tournament runner-up Ohio State and No. 8-seed UNC Asheville.

There is really no way to spin it so that a berth to the NIT is a laudable accomplishment. Having said that, there are a few reasons fans should still make it out to Haas Pavilion for one last time this year: (Click here to read more…)

Wow. How about Ryan Anderson’s shot? Two seconds on the shot clock, Jerome Randle inbounds the ball to Ryan who comes off the screen, elevates and swishes a deep fallaway three just when the Cal men’s basketball team looked like it was going to falter at the end, just as it has all season long.

Actually, I was bracing myself for a loss since midway through the first half. The Bears came out a little flat on both ends of the floor. The defense for much of the game, especially the first half and the beginning of the second, was horrendous. Washington was able to penetrate to the rack with ease, and as soon as Ryan Appleby started draining his threes, I thought to myself how wrong my prediction was. (Click here to read more…)

During the first half of the Cal men’s basketball team’s 70-49 blowout loss to Washington State on Thursday, it didn’t help the Bears that guard Patrick Christopher–the team’s second-leading scorer–bruised his left hip and limped into the locker room at halftime. He attempted to play in the second half, but the pain limited him to just five minutes in the period. (Click here to read more…)