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		Bears win a shootout at Washington State By Morris Phillips January 14, 2010

	Cal didn’t have enough healthy bodies, but they did have the hot hand. Jerome Randle poured in 28 of his career-high 39 points in the second half allowing the Bears to survive the challenge of the new-look, high-octane Washington State Cougars, 93-88. The Bears have now won five of six, and have first place in the Pac-10 to themselves at 3-1. “We played shorthanded. Markhuri wasn’t playing, Jamal wasn’t 100 percent, so we had to come out and do what we had to do. Me being a senior, I had to step it up,” Randle said. In the first half, Randle played facilitator, dishing out nine assists as the Bears went up 20, but watched the lead evaporate to just four points at halftime, 41-37. Cal hit 10 of 13 shots to go up 28-8, but then the Cougars responded behind freshman guards Reggie Moore and Xavier Thames. Surprisingly, Klay Thompson, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring at better than 22 points a game managed just one basket and five points as Washington State managed to stay in it without his scoring. After the break, Cal maintained control, establishing a 15-point lead at one point before the Cougars again battled their way back in it. On the night, Wazzu shot 51 percent from the field along with 14 of 17 from the foul line. The Cougars’ penetrating guards kept coming to the finish, despite never managing to get closer than four points of the Bears at any point. “The intensity turned in the second half, we let them catch up and WSU became the aggressor,” Coach Mike Montgomery noted. The Bears may have taken their foot off the gas, but led by Randle, they never went in reverse. Along with Randle’s big second half and seven 3-pointers on the evening, Cal got big contributions from Patrick Christopher (21 points) and Jamal Boykin (16 points, five rebounds). Boykin played well despite a sprained ankle, and the Bears sorely needed his baskets in the absence of Jorge Guitierrez, Markhuri Frisson-Sanders and Bak Bak, who all are nursing injuries. In addition, Brandon Smith has an ankle problem too, and he played just one minute. Moore led the Cougars with 25 points and Thompson chipped in 18, although he missed eight 3-point attempts. The game marked the immediate transformation of Washington State from the plodding, deliberate pace of Tony Bennett to the attacking, high-scoring attack preferred by new coach Ken Bone. If nothing else, Pullman’s going to need a younger, quicker stat man to keep the faster pace that’s a shock to the system after years of slow down ball in the Palouse. Now the Bears have to make the quick transition to the Washington Huskies on Saturday morning (11:30am start for television purposes) without their health and on the heels of Thursday’s track meet. That matchup with the conference co-favorite should be quite a test for the Bears and their quest for a conference title.