Cal men fall to Richmond 94-90

LAS VEGAS - California arrived in Las Vegas undefeated and ranked 14th in the nation.

The Golden Bears left with back-to-back losses and in jeopardy of falling out of the Top 25.

One night after losing to San Diego State in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational, the Bears lost to Richmond 94-90 on Friday in the consolation game.

Freshman forward Jaylen Brown’s career-high 27 points weren’t enough for the Bears (4-2) as Richmond bounced back from a taxing loss to West Virginia.

“I feel like both San Diego State and Richmond were just tougher than us,” Brown said. “One-to-one, man-to-man, we have to guard the ball. Guys like me, I have to be stronger down there (in the paint) and figure out how to get stops. We just have to help each other out.”

Terry Allen had a career-high 34 points and matched his career best with 13 rebounds to lead Richmond. Marshall Wood added 24 points, and ShawnDre’ Jones had 22 for the Spiders (4-2).

“It was a good test from both squads, but I think in a month from now, we’ll look back on this and really appreciate this experience,” Brown said.

After squandering a second-half 15-point lead, and falling behind 81-77 with a little less than 4 minutes left, the Spiders closed on 17-9 run to pull off the upset.

“We just really tried to play together and find the open players and I think we did a good job of getting good looks and taking the right shots,” Allen said. “Me personally, I just tried to block everything out around me - they’re not at home and we’re not at home, this is a neutral court - and knock down my shots.”

The Spiders used a 21-7 run in the second half to extend their one-point halftime lead to 65-50.

After getting the first six points on free throws, Richmond got four consecutive 3-pointers from Wood in a little more than a 2-minute span. Jones’ off-balance 3 with 14:53 left capped the run.

California’s defensive effort helped it get back into the game down the stretch, and the Bears went on a 22-6 run to pull ahead late in the game.

The Spiders’ shooting woes didn’t help, either, as they shot a dismal 2 of 9 from the floor during a dry spell that came at the same time the Bears made 9 of 11.

After Cal took an 81-77 lead with 3:37 left, the Spiders scored the next seven points. Allen scored on a layup, Jones buried a long 3-pointer and Allen hit both ends of a one-and-one from the free throw line.

“He’s so versatile, and tonight I thought he had some plays where it looked like he just snatched the rebound and put it back up for us,” Mooney said about Allen. “He was just tremendous. With all the talent out there, I think he was the best player on the court tonight.”