Sometimes the unthinkable happens. Sometimes Cal just goes on to win games it has no business winning. That’s how Cal athletics work. That wasn’t the case in this game, however.

The matchup looked like a home game for Oregon if you judged by the crowd — but when freshman Lars Thiemann scored the first points of the game on a short hook shot and Cal forced a shot clock violation on the Ducks’ first possession, Haas Pavilion had some energy in it.

Thiemann had 6 points on 3-3 shooting after the first three minutes of the game — and Cal was able to get out to an early 13-6 lead in the first five minutes. These five minutes may have been some of the Bears’ best minutes offensively all season, as the blue and gold broke the full-court press with ease and knocked down their open jumpers.

What followed was a nearly five-minute scoring drought at the fault of five turnovers during that time. Cal’s normal offense had returned. Oregon went on a 9-0 run and took its first lead, 18-15.

It wasn’t until just over two minutes left in the half that the Bears would regain the lead on a three from forward Grant Anticevich, putting them up 29-27. A minute and a half later, Anticevich would go down the court to bury another one — and the Cal crowd was roaring.

In the first half, the Bears did a solid job of shutting down Ducks guard Payton Pritchard, who averages nearly 20 ppg, limiting him to just two points on 1-3 shooting. Cal’s defense was in top form once again, and the first half was as close as it gets as a result.

The box score was almost identical at the half. The only major difference was that the Bears had double the Ducks’ rebounds, leading 16 to 8, but the blue and gold also turned the ball over three more times.  Both teams made 11 field goals, 4 three-pointers and 6 free throws at halftime, and the result was a 32-32 halftime score.

Cal started the second half slow, but back-to-back long-range bombs from guard Kareem South had the crowd roaring in Haas Pavilion. A three from guard Matt Bradley followed by an and-one from senior Paris Austin had the fans on their feet and the second half was starting off just as the first had, with the Bears leading 48-42.

A block off the backboard on one end and an alley-oop on the other from freshman D.J. Thorpe had the entire student section jumping up and down. The energy was palpable. The crowd was feeding this Cal team.

Just when it seemed everything was going the Bears’ way, Pritchard finally found his rhythm. After a miserable first half, he finished the game with 21 and was the spark that led Oregon’s comeback after his team trailed 55-50 early in the second half. After going up 63-58, “Let’s go Ducks!” chants could be heard throughout Haas and it was clear the tides had turned. There was still almost six minutes left to play, but this game was over.

“He obviously was a factor in the game as he’s been all year. He’s a tremendous player, I think a great candidate for player of the year in the country,” said Cal head coach Mark Fox of Pritchard’s second half performance.

Within just a couple of minutes, the game turned from a home game to an away game for Cal. It seemed like Oregon fans were popping up left and right and the green and yellow had all the momentum.

Cal fans were quiet.

It’s hard to get the crowd in the game, however, when you don’t score a field goal for seven minutes and the basket to break that scoring drought comes when you’re down 10 points with 45 seconds to go.

“Am I pleased to how hard we’ve played and the progress that we’ve made and the fact that we had a chance? Yes,” Fox said. “Will I look at the tape and want to throw the, you know, the computer through the window 15 times tonight? Probably not, but it’d probably be 30. But, you know what, that comes with the territory with a young team.”

Cal had a legitimate chance to win this game. The Bears proved that they can hang with top-tier teams and wins against Stanford and Washington aren’t just flukes. A five-point loss to a top-15 team in the nation isn’t something to hang your head about.

The blue and gold played an outstanding offensive game despite a few scoring droughts, finishing with 72 points, its second-highest scoring game in conference play this season. Bradley got hot late, finishing with 25 points on 8-16 shooting, paving the way for the Bears.

If Cal can continue this offensive form throughout the rest of the season, paired with its already strong defense, the team will be fun to watch and could make a run in the Pac-12 tournament.

The Bears will see their next opponent Saturday as they host the Oregon State Beavers in Haas Pavilion at 1:00 p.m.