Jan. 1, 2013

California Game Notes

BERKELEY - California opens the calendar year and Pac-12 Conference play down in Los Angeles as the Golden Bears face UCLA inside Pauley Pavilion on Thursday at 8:06 p.m. (PT).

Fox Sports Net will provide live television coverage of Thursday's game with Justin Kutcher handling the play-by-play and Marques Johnson serving as the analyst.

The Cal IMG Sports Network will carry the game on KSFS 910 AM in the Bay Area with Todd McKim (play-by-play) and former Golden Bear assistant coach and current Assistant Athletic Director for Basketball Development Jay John (analyst) on the call. The broadcast is also available through CalBears.com/All-Access. The pre-game show starts at 7:30 p.m. (PT).

Dial Global Sports (formerly Westwood One) will provide live national radio coverage with John Tautges (play-by-play) and Steve Lappas (analyst) on the call. You can also access the game on Sirius channel 94 and on XM channel 192.

California, 8-4 overall this season, looks to bounce back from a 67-62 setback to Harvard at home on Dec. 29. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Bears.

Six of the Bears' eight wins this season have come by double digits, including three of the last five victories - an 11-point win over Georgia Tech on Nov. 23, a 20-point victory over Pacific on Nov. 25 and a 32-point win over Prairie View A&M on Dec. 22.

Cal, third in the Pac-12 in rebounding, has out-rebounded 10 of its first 12 opponents with a 40.2 rpg. average this season. The Bears recorded 40 or more rebounds in four-straight games earlier this season for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign. They have averaged 44.2 rebounds per game over the last four contests.

The junior guard duo of Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs are the highest scoring pair in the Pac-12 Conference. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 and ranks 11th nationally at 20.9 points per game, while Cobbs ranks seventh in the conference at 16.4 points per contest.

The pair has combined to score 448 of Cal's 858 points (52 percent) and connected on 154 of the Bears' 314 field goals this season.

Crabbe became the 42nd member of the school's 1,000-point club with 20 points at Denver on Nov. 16. He enters the UCLA game 25th in school history with 1,181 points in 77 career games.

Crabbe and Cobbs are joined in the line-up by junior forward Richard Solomon, sophomore forward David Kravish and freshman guard Tyrone Wallace.

The Bears used the same starting lineup in the first nine games, before Wallace made his debut as a guard in the lineup three games ago vs. UC Santa Barbara.

CAL IN PAC-12 OPENERS
Cal is 3-1 in Pac-12 openers under head coach Mike Montgomery. Thursday's league opener will be the second time under Montgomery the Bears have opened their conference slate on the road. In Montgomery's first season at the helm of the Bears, Cal defeated Arizona at home, 69-55, on Jan. 2, 2009. Cal opened conference play with a 92-66 win over Stanford at home on Jan. 2, 2010. The Bears dropped an 82-68 decision at Stanford in their first league game on Jan. 2, 2011. Last season, Cal posted a 53-49 victory over USC in its Pac-12 opener at Haas Pavilion on Dec. 29, 2011.

CRABBE NEWEST MEMBER OF 1,000-POINT CLUB
Junior Allen Crabbe became the 42nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his Golden Bear career. He hit the four-digit total in the season's third game at Denver on Nov. 16. Crabbe achieved the milestone in his 68th career game, which is 19 games less than it took Cal's all-time leading scorer Jerome Randle (1,835 from 2006-10) to reach the 1,000-point mark. Crabbe enters Thursday's UCLA game 25th in school history in career scoring with 1,181 points in 77 career games.

PAC-12 SCORING LEADER
With an average of 20.9 points per game through the season's first 12 contests, Crabbe leads the Pac-12 Conference in scoring and 11th in the nation overall. His career-high 33 points against Pepperdine equals the second-most points by an individual in the conference so far this season. Oregon State's Ahmad Starks scored 33 against New Mexico State on Nov. 11, while fellow Beaver Roberto Nelson posted 34 points vs. Chicago State on Dec. 16. Crabbe is also among the conference leaders in three-point field goals made per game (T-6th, 1.9), free-throw percentage (6th, .853) and three-point field goal percentage (12th, .383) through Jan. 1's games.

SCORING IN BUNCHES
Crabbe has recorded 17 or more points in a half four times this season. In the first half of the season opener vs. CSUB, the junior poured in 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-4 from the three-point range. In the second half of the Pepperdine contest, the guard registered 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. In the second half of the Bears' game at Denver, Crabbe posted 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. In the second half of Cal's last game vs. Harvard, Crabbe posted 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 7-of-7 from the line.

FROM THE LINE
Crabbe has attempted 249 career free throws through the first 12 games of his junior season in Berkeley, converting 207 of those attempts. The guard owns a .831 free-throw percentage, which ranks fifth on the school's all-time list. He was a perfect 9-of-9 on free-throw attempts against Pepperdine, 7-of-7 last time out vs. Harvard and 4-of-4 vs. Georgia Tech. Crabbe is 58-of-68 from the free throw line this season.

FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Crabbe is one of the Pac-12 conference's top three-point shooters. Through 12 games of his junior season, he has drained 168 career three-pointers, which ranks fourth on Cal's all-time list. His .397 three-point field percentage is eighth-best in school history. As a sophomore in 2011-12, Crabbe recorded 62 three-pointers, which ranked as the seventh-most in a season in school history.

CRABBE'S 20-POINT GAMES
Crabbe has 20 career 20-point games and seven in 2012-13. He has topped the 20-point mark in the Bears' last two games vs. Harvard (27) and Prairie View (23). The junior also topped the 20-point mark at Wisconsin (25), vs. CSU Bakersfield (27), against Pepperdine (career-high 33), at Denver (20) and against Pacific (24) this season. The record for 20-point Games in a season is 23 by Lamond Murray in 1993-94. Crabbe recorded four-straight games of 20 or more points during his freshman season.

CRABBE AND COBBS
Junior guards Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe have combined to score 448 of Cal's 858 points through the first 12 games. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 conference with 251 points on the year, while Cobbs is seventh in the league with 197 points.

JUNIOR GUARDS HAVE INCREASED MINUTES/PRODUCTION
Allen Crabbe has already recorded 58 more points this season than he did through the first 12 games of his sophomore campaign. The guard, who is averaging 2.5 more minutes per game this season (34.0) than he did last year (31.5), had 193 points through the first 12 games of 2011-12.

Justin Cobbs has surpassed his scoring total from the season's first 12 games last season by 53 points in 2012-13. Last year, he recorded 144 points through the Bears' first 12 games. He is averaging 7.1 more minutes a game this season (34.7) as compared to last year (27.6).

COBBS EARNS TOURNAMENT AND WEEKLY HONORS
Junior guard Justin Cobbs was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Nov. 26 after leading Cal to the DIRECTV Classic championship in Anaheim. The junior was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring 58 points in three victories. The guard was 25-of-29 (.862) from the free-throw line and posted 17 rebounds, 13 assists and six steals in the tournament. Cobbs scored four of his 21 points in the final 71 seconds to lead Cal to the 73-70 win over Drake. He followed that with 17 points in the 68-57 win over Georgia Tech and 20 points in the 78-58 victory over Pacific

Cobbs has scored in double figures in 11 of Cal's 12 games this season with four games of 20 or more points in the scoring column.

WALLACE INSTANT IMPACT FOR BEARS
Freshman guard Tyrone Wallace has seen his minutes increase as the season has progressed. He earned his first career start vs. UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 18. The first-year guard responded with his first career double-double against the Gauchos with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

He is Cal's fifth-leading scorer and lone freshman to play in all 12 games so far this season. Wallace has played at least 25 minutes in each of the last six games. He played a career-long 34 minutes last time out vs. Harvard.

In Cal's recent five-game homestand, Wallace averaged 7.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists vs. No. 18 UNLV, No. 13 Creighton, UCSB, Prairie View A&M and Harvard. Two of his three double-figure scoring outputs have come in the last five games with a season-best 13 points vs. UNLV and 10 vs. UCSB.

KRAVISH PROVIDES POST PRESENCE
After a 2011-12 season where David Kravish earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 Freshman team, the 6-9 forward added 20 pounds to his frame in the off-season. He is the team's leading rebounder with 90 through 12 games, and ranks ninth in the Pac-12 with 7.5 boards per game. The forward has posted seven or more rebounds in a game in seven contests. Kravish recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds at Denver on Nov. 16. He posted a season-best 13 rebounds vs. No. 13 Creighton and has three double-digit rebounding performances this season. In the season opener vs. CSU Bakersfield, he posted three blocks to go along with nine rebounds.

As a freshman, Kravish started 24 games and averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds. He recorded 41 blocks - the third-most by a freshman in school history - ranked ninth overall and second among freshmen in the Pac-12.

SOLOMON RETURNING TO FORM
Junior Richard Solomon returned to the Cal lineup in the season opener after missing the final 15 games of last season, Solomon has started each of the Bears' first 12 games, averaging 8.7 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. He has scored in double figures in five games, including a career-high 18 points vs. Prairie View A&M. Last time out, the junior, who ranks second on the team in rebounding and third in scoring, posted a career-high five blocks.

KREKLOW MAKES CAL DEBUT
Sophomore guard Ricky Kreklow, who sat out last season after transferring from Missouri, made his Cal debut against Pepperdine on Nov. 13. He recorded three points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in 17 minutes vs. the Waves. In an increased role (28 minutes) at Denver, Kreklow posted 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

The sophomore has been limited this season after undergoing surgery on his right foot during the pre-season. He aggravated the injury in warm-ups prior to the Drake game on Nov. 22 and missed five games before returning to the court vs. No. 13 Creighton on Dec. 15. He posted four points and two rebounds before fouling out in 15 minutes while guarding Bluejays' All-American Doug McDermott.

Kreklow has experienced some soreness which sidelined him for the Bears' previous two games vs. Prairie View A&M and Harvard. He is day-to-day as he continues to work his way back into the rotation.

Kreklow played in 32 games as a true freshman at Missouri, averaging 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per contest.

THURMAN EFFICIENT WITH MINUTES
Senior forward Robert Thurman has made the most of his minutes on the floor in 2012-13. The forward leads all non-starters with 5.3 ppg. and 3.4 rpg. in just 17.7 minutes per contest. Thurman posted a season-high 14 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes vs. UC Santa Barbara three games ago.

SENIOR TRIO LOOKS FOR ANOTHER LEAGUE TITLE
The senior class of guard Brandon Smith and forwards Bak Bak and Robert Thurman were each a member of the 2009-10 team that won the league title. Smith played in 26 games that season, while Bak played in eight. Thurman redshirted after transferring from Norwich University.

All three have seen action this year. Smith started the first nine games and is averaging with 3.5 ppg. in 20.7 minutes per contest. Thurman is Cal's leading scorer off the bench with 5.3 ppg. in 17.7 minutes per contest. Bak has averaged 5.2 minutes in five games.

SCOUTING UCLA
UCLA enters Pac-12 play with a 10-3 overall record. The Bruins have won five straight, including a 97-94 overtime victory at home over No. 7 Missouri last Friday in their last game.

Cal and UCLA have one common opponent so far this season in Prairie View A&M. Cal defeated the Panthers, 85-53, while UCLA beat PVAM, 95-53, in December.

UCLA is composed of a young squad with three freshmen among its top four scoring leaders so far. Shabazz Muhammad owns a 19.6 ppg. average in 10 games. Jordan Adams is contributing 17.7 ppg. and Kyle Anderson owns an 8.8 ppg. and an 8.5 rpg. average playing in all 13 games. Junior Travis Wear is averaging 11.0 ppg. to go along with 6.6 rebounds per contest.

The Bruins are averaging a Pac-12 best 80.9 points per game, but are last in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 69.5 points per contest.

CALIFORNIA-UCLA SERIES HISTORY
California and have met on the hardwood 232 times previously. The Bruins lead the all-time series 132-100. Cal and UCLA have split the last 10 meetings between the schools with the Bears winning both matchups last year, an 85-69 win at home and a 73-63 victory in Los Angeles. The Bears own a 48-68 all-time record at UCLA.