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		Cal squanders second half lead in loss at Arizona By Morris Phillips January 6, 2011

	Mike Montgomery has taken his last 12 collegiate teams to the NCAA tournament, so a 0-2 start in Pac-10 play isn’t easy to digest. But the veteran coach was fully supportive of his Cal Bears on Thursday night despite watching a nine-point, second half lead evaporate at Arizona in a 73-71 loss. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys. They battled, they hung in there,” Montgomery said. The Bears--undersized and battling inexperience--have dropped five of seven after a 5-2 start to the season, and this week they dealt with the unexpected defection of freshman guard Gary Franklin, who informed the coaching staff on Tuesday that he intends to transfer. Still, the eight, healthy scholarship players remaining went out and battled a 13-3 Arizona team to the wire, only to fall short in the final seconds. “I told the kids that if they will commit to playing this hard and this much together, then we’ll be fine,” Montgomery said, relaying the comforting words he gave his disappointed team in defeat. “I don’t know how many wins that’s going to be, but you can’t fault anything.” Cal got a career-best 17 points from freshman Allen Crabbe, and Jorge Gutierrez, playing in front of a large contingent of friends and family up from Mexico, added 14 points and four steals. But Crabbe and Gutierrez had to log big minutes while teammates Harper Kamp and Markhuri Sanders-Frison were lost to fouls in the final minutes as Arizona overcame Cal’s 51-42 lead with 17 minutes remaining. The Bears started slow as the McKale Center crowd had an effect on their youthful lineup in a 15-5 start for the Wildcats. But Cal settled quickly, switching to zone on defense, which kept the Arizona shooters in check for much of the remainder of the evening. But while the Arizona shooters struggled, the referees provided Arizona a bailout, with frequent whistles, which allowed their leading scorer, Derrick Williams, to amass 31 points, including 16 of 22 makes at the free throw line. “We never made them have to shoot the ball, because they were at the foul line all night long,” Montgomery complained. “You can’t defend the foul line.” The Bears had a chance to tie the game at 70 with 35 seconds remaining when they forced a turnover and Crabbe got to the free throw line, after being fouled attempting a 3-pointer. But Crabbe could only convert two of three, and Arizona managed to put the game away by making three of four from the line in the final seconds. The Bears last two shots from Crabbe and Richard Solomon both fell short. The Bears face a quick turnaround with Arizona State up at 12:30pm on Saturday. But the Sun Devils have been scuffling just like the Bears, having suffered a 14-point loss to Stanford at home on Thursday night.