Jan. 30, 2013

California Game Notes

BERKELEY - California is back in Berkeley where the Golden Bears will host Oregon State on Thursday at Haas Pavilion at 7:05 p.m. (PT). Purchase your tickets to Thursday's game here.

Fifth-year Cal head coach Mike Montgomery, one of the NCAA's winningest active coaches and the Pac-12's fifth-winningest coach of all-time, is on the cusp of becoming the program's fifth coach to post 100 victories with the Bears.

ESPNU will provide live national television coverage of Thursday's game with Cal alum Roxy Bernstein handling the play-by-play and former Arizona standout Miles Simon 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 Jon Wheeler (analyst) on the call. The broadcast is also available online by clicking here or on satellite radio on Sirius channel 92 and XM channel 191. The pre-game show starts at 6:30 p.m. (PT).

Cal, 11-8 overall this season and 3-4 in the Pac-12, is coming off an 81-71 setback to Colorado on Sunday in Boulder.

• Mike Montgomery, who will coach his 155th career game with the Golden Bears on Thursday, looks to become just the fifth head coach in the history of the California men's basketball program to win 100 games. With a record of 99-55 in his fifth season with the Bears, Montgomery would not only join rare company, but be the third-fastest to 100 wins in school history.

• Mike Montgomery is also three wins shy of becoming the fourth winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference history. He enters Thursday's contest with 263 league wins.

• The junior guard duo of Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs is the highest scoring pair in the Pac-12 Conference with a combined average of 34.7 points per game. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 and ranks 14th nationally at 20.0 points per game, while Cobbs ranks 10th in the conference at 14.7 points per contest. The pair has combined to score 659 of Cal's 1,301 points (50.7 percent) and connected on 231 of the Bears' 480 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 Oregon State game 17th in school history with 1,310 points in 84 career games.

• Crabbe and Cobbs are joined in the line-up by sophomore F David Kravish, freshman G Tyrone Wallace and junior F Richard Solomon. Cal has used this lineup eight of the past 10 games.

CRABBE CONTINUES TO CLIMB 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, 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 Oregon State game 17th in career scoring with 1,310 points in 84 games.

PAC-12 SCORING LEADER ALL SEASON
With an average of 20.0 points per game, Crabbe leads the Pac-12 Conference in scoring and ranks 14th in the nation overall. His career-high 33 points against Pepperdine equals the second-most points by an individual in the conference this season.

Crabbe is also among the conference leaders in free-throw percentage (4th, .845), three-point field goals made per game (7th, 1.8), and three-point field goal percentage (11th, .370).

CRABBE'S 20-POINT GAMES
Crabbe has 24 career 20-point games, including 11 this season. He has topped the 20-point mark in six of the Bears' last nine games. Crabbe has posted four-straight 20-point games twice in his career, both this season and as a freshman. Cal is 7-3 when Crabbe scores 20 or more points.

SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST
Crabbe has recorded 16 or more points in the second half in six games this season, including four of the last seven contests. He also registered a 20-point first half on 8-of-12 shooting and 4-of-4 from 3-point range against CSUB. Here is a look at Crabbe's top second-half performances.

FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Crabbe is one of the Pac-12 conference's top three-point shooters. Through 19 games of his junior season, he has drained 179 career three-pointers, which ranks fourth on Cal's all-time list. His .393 three-point field percentage is ninth-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 AND COBBS
Junior guards Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe have combined to score 659 of Cal's 1,301 points through the first 19 games. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 conference with 380 points on the year, while Cobbs is 14th in the league (10th in points per game) with a total of 279 points.

JUNIOR GUARDS HAVE INCREASED MINUTES/PRODUCTION
Allen Crabbe has already recorded 81 more points this season than he did through the first 19 games of his sophomore campaign. The guard, who is averaging 2.5 more minutes per game this season (35.5) than he did last year (33.0), had 299 points through the first 19 games of 2011-12.

Justin Cobbs has surpassed his scoring total from the season's first 19 games of last season by 34 points in 2012-13. Last year, he recorded 245 points through the Bears' first 19 games. He is averaging 4.9 more minutes a game this season (35.4) as compared to last year (30.5).

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 16 of Cal's 19 games this season with five games of 20 or more points in the scoring column, including a game-high 22 points last time out at Colorado.

WALLACE IS INSTANT IMPACT
Freshman guard Tyrone Wallace has provided an instant impact for the Bears. He earned a starting role in Cal's 10th game (vs. UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 18) of the season and has played at least 25 minutes in each of the Bears' last 13 games. The first-year guard posted his first career double-double in his first career start against UCSB with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Wallace is Cal's fifth-leading scorer (6.8 ppg.) and lone freshman to play in all 19 games. He played a career-long 38 minutes at USC six games ago. The freshman scored a career-best 16 points vs. Washington State and dished out a career-high eight assists at Utah,

Since Wallace was inserted into the starting lineup 10 games ago, he has averaged 7.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

KRAVISH STRONG IN THE POST
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 (ranks 13th in the Pac-12 with 7.1 rpg.) and shot blocker (ranks eighth in the Pac-12 at 1.4 bpg.). The forward has posted seven or more rebounds in a game in 10 contests. Kravish recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds at Denver. He posted a season-best 13 rebounds vs. No. 13 Creighton and has four double-digit rebounding performances this season, including 12 at UCLA and 10 vs. Pacific. The sophomore has also posted three blocks in a game on four occasions. He ranks ninth all-time at Cal with 68 career blocks. Kravish matched his season-high with 14 points three games ago at Stanford.

SOLOMON RETURNING TO FORM
Junior Richard Solomon, who missed the final 15 games of last season, has played in all 19 games this season. He has started 17 contests. Solomon is averaging 7.9 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. The junior has scored in double figures in six games, including a career-high 18 points vs. Prairie View A&M. He posted his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds at UCLA. Solomon also registered a career-high six blocks vs. WSU to go along with seven points and eight rebounds, becoming the first player in school history with at least six points, six rebounds and six blocks in a game.

THURMAN EFFICIENT WITH MINUTES
Senior forward Robert Thurman has made the most of his minutes on the floor in 2012-13. The forward, who has started two games this season, is averaging 17.9 minutes per contest. The senior made his first career start in his 55th career game vs. Washington on Jan. 9. He is averaging 5.2 ppg. and 3.8 rpg. The forward posted a season-high 14 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes vs. UCSB.

SMITH RETURNS TO COURT
Senior guard Brandon Smith, who last appeared in a game on Dec. 22, made his return to the court two games ago at Utah. Smith sustained a head injury against Prairie View A&M in late December. After being sidelined from all basketball activities for more than a month, he was cleared to play last week. Smith played 19 minutes at Utah and 13 at Colorado in the two games since his return.

SUPER POWERS
After appearing in just five of the first nine games, junior guard Jeff Powers has played in eight of the last nine games. He has scored all 22 of his points on the season and logged 97 of his 110 minutes of the year in his last eight games. Powers started the Bears' game against Washington State, playing a season-long 19 minutes against the Cougars.

BAK BAK
Senior center Bak Bak has also increased his presence in the Bears' line-up. Over the last six games, Bak has totaled 48 minutes on the floor. He had played 26 minutes overall in his first five appearances of the season prior to the USC contest on Jan. 5. Bak scored a season-high five points in a season-long 15 minutes vs. Washington State.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE
Oregon State comes to Berkeley with an 11-9 overall record and a 1-6 mark in the Pac-12. The Beavers' lone conference win came last week with a 74-66 victory over Washington at home. OSU has dropped six of its last seven games overall. The Beavers have played just four true road games this season with a 1-3 mark in those contests.

Oregon State's balanced offense includes five players in its regular rotation averaging double figures. OSU is led by junior guard Roberto Nelson, who is averaging 16.0 ppg. Junior forward Devon Collier is averaging 14.5 ppg. and 6.6 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Ahmad Starks is contributing 12.1 ppg., while senior center Joe Burton is averaging 10.8 ppg. and sophomore forward Eric Moreland is averaging 10.2 ppg. to go along with a team-high 10.8 rebounds-per-game average (second-most in the Pac-12).

Oregon State is surrendering a league-high 69.5 points per game.

CALIFORNIA-OREGON STATE SERIES HISTORY
California and Oregon State have met on the hardwood 138 times previously. The Golden Bears hold a 78-60 advantage in the all-time series with the Beavers. Cal has won three of the last four games in the series, including the last three contests in Berkeley. The Bears split the series with the Beavers last season, falling in Corvallis, 92-85, and winning at home, 77-63.