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		Cal back in first place after win over UCLA By Morris Phillips February 6, 2010

	The Cal Bears played their best 40 minutes of basketball in Los Angeles this weekend. Now, if they could just put it together. The first 12 minutes at USC, and the final 28 minutes at UCLA doesn’t quite add up to a total effort. But the big finish, leading to a 72-58 win over UCLA, allowed the Bears to reclaim first place in the crowded Pac-10 race. The Bears seemed to be reliving the scoreless 11-minute stretch at USC when they started cold on Saturday. In falling behind UCLA 24-11, the Bears jacked up too many jump shots early in the shot clock resulting in a bunch of run outs for the Bruins. The youngsters from Westwood, as fragile a bunch seen in Pauley Pavilion in many moons, were getting the confidence they desperately needed courtesy of the Bears. As they did at USC, Cal wasn’t attacking the paint or meeting challenges on defense, an effort that Coach Mike Montgomery would deem as soft. “Obviously, had something good not happened pretty soon, it could have gotten ugly. All of a sudden we made a play—I think Jerome hit a three. Then it was like, ‘We’re OK,’” Montgomery said. Jerome Randle’s momentum-changing three triggered a 26-8 run that erased the early deficit and gave Cal a comfortable 37-30 lead at the half. The run was fueled by the Bears’ more patiently-run offense as much as six UCLA turnovers. The confidence the Bruins had mustered was gone in a flash as the Cal senior leadership made its belated appearance. Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson led the Bears with 20 points each, while Randle added 14 points and six assists in a quiet, complimentary roll. Cal also got 23 critical minutes from Jorge Guitierrez, who was questionable coming in because of his balky knee. While the seniors steadied the Bears offensively, Guitierrez did his usual defensive thing, this time flustering Malcom Lee who managed just two assists and five turnovers trying to direct UCLA’s hot and cold offense. In the second half, the Bears were never threatened, pushing their lead to 12 in less than three minutes of action. Christopher made sure the Bears coasted, scoring 14 of his 20 after halftime, as their lead reached as many as 17 points. Now the Bears return home as the only four-loss, first place team in Division 1. But if winning a first Pac-10 title means winning ugly, the Bears won’t celebrate any less. Without a commanding win-loss record, the Bears only have to fend off five teams a game back at 6-5. Three of those five teams visit Berkeley down the stretch, with Washington up first on Thursday. In fact, the game against the Huskies might be the biggest challenge of the remaining seven conference games, especially considering the 15-point win Washington laid on the Bears in Seattle. But that’s only if those Huskies show up at Haas. Washington is 0-4 in conference on the road, losing those games by an average of 15 points. Just an illustration of how tough this race is to handicap, with all of the competing teams sporting obvious flaws. Could any of the 6-5 teams (Washington, USC, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State) possibly fashion a 6-1 finish to possibly catch the Bears at 12-6 in conference? Seems hard to envision, but of course, a 5-2 finish from the Bears is just as problematic, especially if they don’t find a way to play consistently, start to finish. ARE THE BEARS WORTHY OF AN AT-LARGE BID?: If you watched college basketball on television Saturday, whether you were tuned to ESPN, FSN or CBS for the Bears game, you probably heard one or more commentators say that Cal is the Pac-10’s best shot for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. Cal holds the watered-down league’s highest rating, coming in at 38th nationally in the Sagarin ratings released on Friday. But with a 15-8 overall record, including a 0-4 record against the top 25, Cal would appear to be squarely on the bubble for an at-large berth. Especially, when you consider that the Bears are likely to lose at least two of their final seven conference games, and along with another loss in the Pac-10 tournament, they would finish with a 21-11 or 22-11 record. An 11-loss season along with their poor record against the Top 50 (1-4) probably won’t make the cut. And that’s a best case scenario. The Bears could take a bad loss to Oregon State or Stanford (both upcoming games are on the road), but they can’t get another win against a Top 50 program, with none left on their schedule. So really there appears to be only one way that Cal could nab an at-large bid. Win at least six of their last seven scheduled games, without taking that loss against Stanford or Oregon State. Then win a Pac-10 tourney opener (another bad loss situation) before losing a semifinal or championship game matchup. Not easy. And either way—at-large or automatic bid tourney champ—the Bears probably need a 7-2 or 8-2 finish to be in. So get ready for a big finish, Bears’ fans.