1. There was a lot of talk at halftime about this team having the same issues as last year and that's not entirely wrong. But this year's team has something last year's didn't, at least a little resilience. That comeback was fantastic, and fast.

2. Don't get me wrong though, that stretch before halftime was AWFUL. It looked lifeless and sloppy and like so many games last year. It's not an incorrect take to say this team has an awful lot of those same issues last year's did, but it's an incomplete take.

3. The free throws have to get better. You cannot miss 13 in a game, the benefit is this year's team gets to the line a lot so the misses aren't quite as big of killers, but even just making a reasonable percentage as a team tonight would have made it an easy game.

4. This team is flawed and a close comeback win against California, which is not a good team, isn't an incredible sign or anything. But the fact the Tigers didn't fold is big. Last year's team would have folded and the second half would have been a boring slog as Cal won by 20+. This year, the Tigers responded. That's at least different.

Next up, kansas.

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