Lucas Taylor scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Syracuse put its road woes behind it for at least one night in a 75-66 win over Cal in the Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday in Berkeley, California.
J.J. Starling chipped in 18 points for the Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC), who came in 1-8 away from home but played like a much different team as they snapped their three-game losing streak overall.
Jeremiah Wilkinson and Jovan Blacksher Jr. finished with 20 points apiece to lead the Golden Bears (11-11, 4-7), who have lost two in a row. Rytis Petraitis added 13.
Blacksher’s jumper in the first minute of the second half ended a field goal drought that went back to the 5:17 mark of the first half, when Blacksher hit a 3-pointer that pulled Cal within 26-17.
The Golden Bears were playing their fourth consecutive game without leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic (18.9 points per game), who continues to battle a hip injury.
Leading rebounder Mady Sissoko did return after missing Wednesday’s 76-65 loss to SMU because he was in concussion protocol. He finished with no points and six rebounds.
Cal trailed by as many as 17 in the first half but closed to within 43-36 with 16:20 to go on Wilkinson’s 3-pointer, which capped an 11-0 run.
The Golden Bears trailed 58-51 with 6:47 to play after Blacksher’s trey, and they were within 67-61 with 1:14 left after a layup by Blacksher finished a 7-0 burst.
Syracuse and Cal were playing for the first time since 2014 when the Bears won 73-59 in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden.
The Orange dominated early on the strength of a 9-0 run where Starling scored twice off layups and Elijah Moore capped the spurt with a 3-pointer.
The Golden Bears started the night 1-for-6 from the floor, missing four times from beyond the arc, before Wilkinson hit a jumper to give his team its first points.
Chris Bell gave the Orange their first double-digit lead, knocking down a jumper with 9:51 to play. Less than a minute later, he drilled a 3-pointer as Syracuse stretched its lead to 23-10.
Syracuse led 40-23 at halftime, while Cal shot just 17.4 percent from the floor (4-of-23).
The Orange shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) in the half, including Starling’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left.
