Cal fired men's basketball coach Ben Braun on Wednesday, The Chronicle has learned.

Braun, whose 12 years at Cal represented the second-longest tenure in program history, was dismissed two days after the Bears ended a disappointing season with a second-round loss to Ohio State in the National Invitation Tournament. Cal finished the year 17-16 and 6-12 (ninth place) in the Pac-10.

Braun's career record at Cal was 219-154, including 110-106 in conference play. But the Bears were 6-12 in the Pac-10 in three of the past four seasons, eroding support for Braun among influential alumni.

Cal made five NCAA Tournament appearances under Braun, who replaced Todd Bozeman in Sept. 1996. The Bears reached the Sweet 16 in Braun's first season, won the NIT in 1999 and twice advanced to the second round of the NCAAs.

This year's team, a young group led by sophomores Ryan Anderson and Patrick Christopher, went 9-2 in non-conference play and then opened Pac-10 play with a victory over USC. But the Bears lost a string of close games to fade in the rugged conference, eventually dropping seven of their final eight regular-season games.

Cal beat Washington and then lost to UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament. In the NIT, the Bears defeated New Mexico at home - before a startlingly small crowd of 1,906 - before falling to Ohio State 73-56.

Braun, whose contract ran through the 2010-11 season, reportedly will receive a buyout of nearly $1 million.

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