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Cal inches closer to basketball history with win over Arizona
By Morris Phillips February 25, 2010 |
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If this were the pros, it would be called a professional approach. After a wildly entertaining 95-71 blowout of Arizona that thrilled the Haas Pavilion crowd, and had everyone anticipating a first ever Pac-10 championship for California, the players and Coach Mike Montgomery appeared almost somber. Jerome Randle, who had people leaping out of their seats with a flurry of long-range jump shots in the second half, calmly deflected any talk of him being named the Player of the Year in the conference. Theo Robertson seemed more interested in talking about a defensive strategy that limited Arizona’s Nic Wise. And Montgomery had already turned his focus to Saturday. “We’ve got to focus on playing basketball and not get caught up in the periphery stuff, that’s going to be the big thing. Emotion can be good, but it also can be troublesome,” Montgomery said. “When we’re good, we play hard, we play together and we’re focused on just winning the basketball game. That’s what we go to do Saturday.” On Saturday, the Bears (19-9, 11-5) can win their 20th game of the season, give five seniors the proper send off in their final home game, and clinch at least a tie for the regular season championship by beating the only remaining challenger, Arizona State. With all that on their plate, beating Arizona in front of a full house and a national television audience paled in comparison. “(ASU-Cal)’s a big game, we’re playing for something. Everything that we’ve worked for in the season is on the line, and I know guys will be ready to play,” Robertson said. Against Arizona, the Bears played 34 minutes of dominant basketball. Only a 14-2 Wildcats’ run to close the opening half, followed by a slow start after halftime stained the Bears’ effort. Following the poor stretch, in which Arizona trimmed a 24-point deficit to eight, 45-37, the Bears responded individually and emphatically. First Patrick Christopher bulled his way into the lane for a layup, and Randle hit a trio of 3-pointers in a 90-second span, with each jump shot seemingly deeper than the last. Robertson followed with a cutting layup and a free throw to complete a three-point play, then Randle connected again, and in three minutes, Cal’s lead ballooned to 21, 61-40, effectively putting the game away. And although Senior Day isn’t until Saturday, the seniors, Randle, Christopher, Robertson, Jamal Boykin and Nikola Knezevic made it senior weekend with the force of their play. The five combined to score 81 of Cal’s 95 points, led Randle’s 24 points and Boykin’s 20 points and 10 rebounds. With their strong play, Cal was able to mask its short bench where Max Zhang was unavailable and Amondi Omoke and Markhuri Sanders-Frison were only able to play limited minutes. The Bears managed a 34-23 edge in rebounding and shut down Wise, Arizona’s leading scorer, by aggressively attacking UA’s pick-and-roll and crowding the lane to stop penetration, areas that the Wildcats hurt the Bears on in Tucson last month. That and Arizona’s cold shooting in the first 20 minutes made this one a cake walk. Now the Bears 50-year conference championship drought and Arizona’s 25-year run of NCAA tournament appearances might end in the same season. That and Ernie Kent’s 13-year run at Oregon, and Stanford and UCLA’s lengthy runs of winning seasons. And while we’re busting streaks, when was the last time a 5’10” player won the Pac-10’s player of the year award? Yep, it’s been a strange but memorable year in the Pac-10. |
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