Jan. 4, 2013

California Game Notes

LOS ANGELES - California looks to get back on track when the Bears continue their Los Angeles trip on Saturday night at USC inside the Galen Center at 8 p.m. (PT) during the Pac-12 Conference's opening weekend.

Fox Sports Net will provide live television coverage of Saturday'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 Cal alum Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Todd McKim (analyst) on the call. The broadcast is also available online here. The pre-game show starts at 7:30 p.m. (PT). You can also access the game on Sirius channel 123 and on XM channel 194.

California, 8-5 overall this season and 0-1 in the Pac-12, looks to bounce back from its second-straight loss, a 79-65 setback at UCLA on Thursday in its Pac-12 opener. Cal is 5-2 in conference-opening weekends under head coach Mike Montgomery.

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, a 20-point victory over Pacific and a 32-point win over Prairie View A&M.

Cal, second in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 40.6 boards per game, has out-rebounded 11 of its first 13 opponents 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 44.4 rebounds per game over the last five 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 ninth nationally at 20.9 points per game, while Cobbs ranks seventh in the conference at 16.1 points per contest.

The pair has combined to score 481 of Cal's 923 points (52.1 percent) and connected on 177 of the Bears' 344 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 USC game 22nd in school history with 1,202 points in 78 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 four games ago vs. UC Santa Barbara.

CRABBE MOVES TO 22ND ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
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 Saturday's USC game 22nd in school history in career scoring with 1,202 points in 78 career games.

PAC-12 SCORING LEADER
With an average of 20.9 points per game through the season's first 13 contests, Crabbe leads the Pac-12 Conference in scoring and ninth 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-9th, 1.8) and free-throw percentage (6th, .855) through Jan. 3's games.

SCORING IN BUNCHES
Crabbe has recorded 16 or more points in a half five 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 vs. Harvard, Crabbe posted 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 7-of-7 from the line. In the second half at UCLA last time out, Crabbe recorded 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

CRABBE'S 20-POINT GAMES
Crabbe has 21 career 20-point games and eight in 2012-13. He has topped the 20-point mark in the Bears' last three games at UCLA (21), vs. Harvard (27) and Prairie View A&M (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 481 of Cal's 923 points through the first 13 games. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 conference with 272 points on the year, while Cobbs is seventh in the league with 209 points.

JUNIOR GUARDS HAVE INCREASED MINUTES/PRODUCTION
Allen Crabbe has already recorded 66 more points this season than he did through the first 13 games of his sophomore campaign. The guard, who is averaging 2.8 more minutes per game this season (34.4) than he did last year (31.6), had 206 points through the first 13 games of 2011-12.

Justin Cobbs has surpassed his scoring total from the season's first 13 games last season by 45 points in 2012-13. Last year, he recorded 165 points through the Bears' first 13 games. He is averaging 6.4 more minutes a game this season (34.9) as compared to last year (28.5).

CAL IN PAC-12 OPENING WEEKENDS
Cal is 5-2 in Pac-12 opening weekends under head coach Mike Montgomery. In Montgomery's first season at the helm of the Bears, Cal defeated Arizona (69-55) and Arizona State (81-71)at home in Jan. of 2009. Cal opened conference play with a 92-66 win over Stanford at home on Jan. 2, 2010 in its opening weekend. The Bears dropped an 82-68 decision at Stanford in their league opening weekend in January, 2011. Last season, Cal posted a 53-49 victory over USC and an 85-69 win over UCLA at home in its Pac-12 opening weekend at Haas Pavilion in December, 2011.

WALLACE INSTANT IMPACT 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 13 games so far this season. Wallace has played at least 25 minutes in each of the last seven games. He played a career-long 34 minutes vs. Harvard.

Since Wallace was inserted into the starting lineup four games ago, he has averaged 5.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

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 102 through 13 games, and ranks ninth in the Pac-12 with 7.8 boards per game. The forward has posted seven or more rebounds in a game in eight 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 four double-digit rebounding performances this season, including 12 last time out at UCLA. 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 year, Solomon has started the first 13 games, averaging 8.8 ppg. and 6.5 rpg. He has scored in double figures in six games, including a career-high 18 points vs. Prairie View A&M. Last time out, the junior posted his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds at UCLA. Two games ago, he had a career-high five blocks vs. Harvard.

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 12 of Cal's 13 games this season with four games of 20 or more points in the scoring column.

SCOUTING USC
USC enters Saturday's game 6-8 overall after opening Pac-12 play on a winning note on Thursday night. The Trojans got 15 points from Jio Fontan to earn a last-minute, 71-69 victory over Stanford at home.

Two of USC's six victories have come in its last two games as the Trojans also posted a 63-61 overtime win against Dayton last Sunday.

Senior forward Eric Wise leads USC in scoring at 11.6 points per game. Fontan, the Trojans' senior guard is one of the top assist men in the conference with an average of 5.2 assists per game. Junior forward Dewayne Dedmon owns a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game.

Wise, Fontan, Dedmon and sophomore guard Byron Wesley have started all 14 games for USC, while senior forward Aaron Fuller was inserted into the starting lineup three games ago.

CALIFORNIA-USC SERIES HISTORY
California and USC have met on the hardwood 251 times previously. The Golden Bears lead the all-time series 131-120. Cal and USC have split the last 10 meetings between the schools with the Bears winning both matchups last year, a 53-49 win at home and a 75-59 victory in Los Angeles. The Bears own a 56-48 all-time record at USC.