Cal demolishes Arizona, makes a statement on Pac-10 supremacy

Obviously, Arizona is reeling and they were struggling coming into this one. Cal didn’t make matters better for them, blowing them out of the gym 95-71.




The first half started even, as it would be 11-8 with 15 minutes left, Cal up. From the 14:09 mark on (score 16-9 after a Robertson 3) the Bears dominated. They would close the half on a 27-22 run from that mark, making the score 43-31 at the half. They were down by 20 at one point, but came back.



The Bears would have the game under control in the second. Even though Arizona threatened, they never came within single digits. It would be easy going, and the only loss was not breaking 100 in the 95-71 win.



Nic Wise was the difference-maker in the first game, guiding the Wildcats to the W with 30 points. He would do no such thing tonight, as Jorge Gutierrez and Jerome Randle would shut down the senior stud. He was held to 7 points on 2-8 shooting, and he never got his offense going. He only had a single assist on the night, and turned the ball over 3 times. He was 1-5 from the 3 point line.



Jamal Boykin, with all apologies to Jerome Randle, may be the MVP of this game. He simply outplayed the more highly touted Derrick Williams, as he scored 20 points and he nabbed 10 rebounds. He shot 7-13 from the field and made all 6 of his free throw attempts. Williams scored an impressive 17 points, but on worse shooting (exactly 50%), but he did miss 3 free throws and turned the ball over 5 times. For tonight, Boykin was the far better player.



We almost expect it every night, but again Jerome Randle was excellent. It’s no shock he scored 24 points, had 7 assists, and shot above 50% on the night. Randle, by far, outperformed Wise and got his revenge.



Theo Robertson and Christopher also made plays when the Bears needed them. Theo, who had a career game against Arizona last time, notched 18 points on 66% shooting. He also sparked several key runs with his shooting. Christopher scored 14 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.



Keys to the game were rebounding and defense. They outshot Arizona 56.7% to 48.1%, and made 7 more free throws. They also outrebounded the Wildcats 31-22.



Two games remain in the season. Beat Arizona State, and at least a share of the conference title is guaranteed. Lose, and we still might have a chance, but it’s unlikely. Win both against ASU and Stanford, and we have our first conference title to ourselves in 50 years. Go Bears!