Bears Battle No. 4 Wildcats In Road Loss
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds, and No. 4 Arizona bounced back from its first loss by holding off California 81-68 on Sunday at the McKale Center.
Tubelis had 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Ballo – the Division I leader in field goal percentage – made 7 of 10 shots en route to 17 points, with seven rebounds and four blocks.
The Wildcats (7-1, 1-1 Pac-12) were coming off an 81-66 loss Thursday at Utah, just their fifth in 44 games under second-year coach Tommy Lloyd. Cal (0-9, 0-2) held them below 50 percent for their second consecutive game Sunday, including a 4-of-20 clip from 3-point range.
The Golden Bears were led by career highs from guard Devin Askew, who had 25 points, while forward Lars Thiemann added 18 on 9-of-14 shooting. Three of Askew’s nine makes were from deep while he was also 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
Cal’s 78 points were its most since a 78-65 win at Oregon in February. The Bears finished 28 of 63 from the field (44.4%), making just one less field goal than the Wildcats. A difference maker proved to be at the free throw line, where Arizona was 19 of 26 and Cal was 8 of 8.
Arizona led 42-33 at halftime, shooting 57.7% from the field, but missed 12 of its first 16 shots after the break. A jumper by Askew cut the deficit to 59-52 with 10:51 to go, and Cal made 11 of its first 16 shots in the second half, but it couldn't get any closer.
Tubelis had more field goals in the first 9 minutes than Cal, scoring 15 points to put Arizona up 24-10. The Wildcats extended the lead to 32-17 before Askew hit back-to-back 3-pointers, getting fouled on the second to score seven points in a 28-second span and cut the deficit to eight.
Cal got within 34-28 with 3:52 left in the first half on Thiemann's layup but missed four of its next five shots.
UP NEXT
The Bears return to nonconference action next Wednesday when they host Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. PST in Haas Pavilion. It’s the first of back-to-back home games for Cal next week and the contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.