Cal stunned by 13th seed Hawaii in NCAA tournament opener

SPOKANE, Wash. - Cal’s week of chaos, filled with controversy, dismissals and injuries, had finally returned to the normalcy of a basketball game.

And then the Golden Bears were handed one more obstacle just moments before facing No. 13 seed Hawaii, a final blow that Cal could not overcome.

“I just think what happens when you have a level of momentum, you’re going into something and you hit a bump in the road,” Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said. “And then with the situation that took place with one of our coaches. Then all of a sudden, Tyrone goes down, and then Jabari Bird. I mean, it’s tough for young guys to overcome.”

The fourth-seeded Bears saw their tumultuous week come to an end Friday as they were upset by No. 13 Hawaii 77-66 in the first round of the South Regional. It was the Warriors’ first NCAA tournament victory.

The Golden Bears played without popular assistant coach Yann Hufnagel, dismissed amid allegations of sexual harassment, and after losing top scorer Tyrone Wallace, who broke his hand Wednesday in practice. As if the Bears (23-11) needed more obstacles, guard Jabari Bird had back spasms during warmups and never played.

Jordan Mathews led Cal with 23 points, but considering the absences, the Golden Bears needed their healthy stars to be at their best and they failed. Jaylen Brown was a miserable 1 of 6 shooting, committed seven turnovers and fouled out with 6:22 left and the Bears trailing by eight. Ivan Rabb had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, but was hounded on the interior all game.

The Bears were just 3 of 19 on 3-pointers, all coming from Mathews.

It could be the final game for Brown and Rabb if they decide to jump to the NBA. And it may bring more scrutiny to Martin’s status considering the school is already reviewing his response to Hufnagel’s situation.

“For me, I’m fine. My situation will be what I determine it will be, so I am fine,” Martin said. “But as far as our team, our team’s fine. If you’re talking about Ivan and Jaylen, there’s plenty of time to talk about that whenever they decide to do what they want to do.”

The Warriors were 0-4 in their previous NCAA appearances, the most recent coming in 2002.

Quincy Smith scored a career-high 19 points, Roderick Bobbitt had 17 points and Stefan Jankovic 16 for the champions of the Big West Conference regular season and tournament. Hawaii (28-5) used a strong first half from Jankovic to lead by as many as 11, then withstood his foul trouble in the second half thanks largely to Smith.

Smith scored 11 points in the second half and keyed Hawaii’s surge midway through after Cal had pulled to within one.