BERKELEY - California, coming off a 58-54 victory over No. 10/12 Oregon in front of a season-high crowd of 9,457 fans at Haas Pavilion on Saturday, hits the road for a pair of games in the Grand Canyon state. First up for the Golden Bears is Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. on Thursday at 6:32 p.m. (PT).
Fifth-year Cal head coach Mike Montgomery, who notched his 100th win at Cal last week, is one win shy of becoming the Pac-12's fourth winningest coach of all-time.
THE LAST MEETING
Arizona State
47
Cal
68
February 4, 2012
Berkeley, Calif.
Golden Bears Bounce Back With 68-47 Win Over ASU
Allen Crabbe scored 19 points before injuring his right ankle in the second half to help California beat Arizona State 68-47 on Saturday. Jorge Gutierrez added 10 points and five rebounds for the Golden Bears (18-6, 8-3 Pac 12), who bounced back with their most lopsided win of the season two days after being knocked out of first place in the conference.
Cal, 13-8 overall this season and 5-4 in the Pac-12, looks for its fifth straight victory over the Sun Devils in the series.
• Mike Montgomery, one of the NCAA's winningest active coaches with 648 career victories, is one win shy of becoming the fourth winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference history. He enters Thursday's contest with 265 league wins.
• Mike Montgomery notched his 100th win at Cal last week, becoming the fifth coach in school history and the third fastest to achieve the milestone mark.
• 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 33.7 points per game. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 and ranks 17th nationally at 19.4 points per game, while Cobbs ranks 12th in the conference at 14.3 points per contest. The pair has combined to score 709 of Cal's 1,430 points (49.6 percent).
• Justin Cobbs has totaled 30 assists and 11 steals over his last five games.
• Allen Crabbe became the 42nd member of the school's 1,000-point club with 20 points at Denver on Nov. 16. He enters the ASU game 16th in school history with 1,338 points in 86 career games.
• Cal's victory over No. 10 Oregon last time out was the Golden Bears' first win over a top-10 opponent since Jan. 31, 2008 when Cal defeated No. 9 Washington State, 69-64. It was the first win at home over a top-10 opponent since Jan. 26, 2006, a 71-69 win over No. 10 Washington.
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 Arizona State game 16th in career scoring with 1,338 points in 86 games.
PAC-12 SCORING LEADER ALL SEASON With an average of 19.4 points per game, Crabbe has led the Pac-12 Conference in scoring all season and ranks 17th 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, .848) and three-point field goals made per game (T-6th, 1.8).
CRABBE'S 20-POINT GAMES Crabbe has 24 career 20-point games, including 11 this season. He 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.
Here is a look at Crabbe's 20-point games this season.
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 nine 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.
CRABBE AND COBBS Junior guards Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe have combined to score 709 of Cal's 1,430 points through 21 games. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 conference with 408 points on the year, while Cobbs is 14th in the league (12th in points per game) with a total of 301 points.
JUNIOR GUARDS HAVE INCREASED MINUTES/PRODUCTION Allen Crabbe has already recorded 79 more points this season than he did through the first 21 games of his sophomore campaign. The guard, who is averaging 2.4 more minutes per game this season (35.8) than he did last year (33.4), had 329 points through the first 21 games of 2011-12.
Justin Cobbs has surpassed his scoring total from the season's first 21 games of last season by 27 points in 2012-13. Last year, he recorded 274 points through the Bears' first 21 games. He is averaging 4.5 more minutes a game this season (35.4) as compared to last year (30.9).
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 17 of Cal's 21 games this season with five games of 20 or more points in the scoring column, including a game-high 22 points at Colorado three games ago.
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 14 of the Bears' last 15 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 (6.9 ppg.) and lone freshman to play in all 21 games. He played a career-long 38 minutes at USC last time out vs. Oregon. 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 12 games ago, he has averaged 7.3 points, 4.8 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 (tied for 12th in the Pac-12 with 7.0 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 11 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 seventh all-time at Cal with 71 career blocks. Kravish matched his season-high with 14 points at Stanford.
SOLOMON RETURNING TO FORM Junior Richard Solomon, who missed the final 15 games of last season, has played in all 21 games this season. He has started 19 contests. Solomon is averaging 8.4 ppg. and 6.6 rpg. The junior has scored in double figures in eight games, including a career-high 18 points vs. Prairie View A&M. The junior recorded a career-best 12 rebounds vs. No. 10 Oregon. He has posted a pair of double-doubles this season (11 points and 10 rebounds at UCLA, 13 points and 12 rebounds vs. Oregon). 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 18.0 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 3.9 rpg. The forward posted a season-high 14 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes vs. UCSB. Thurman has totaled 29 points and 20 rebounds in his last four games.
SMITH RETURNS TO COURT Senior guard Brandon Smith, who missed six games after suffering a head injury against Prairie View A&M on Dec. 22, made his return to the court four games ago at Utah. After being sidelined from all basketball activities for more than a month, he was cleared to play on Jan. 23. Smith played 19 minutes at Utah and 13 at Colorado in his first two games back. The senior played his longest minutes since Dec. 9 with 23 minutes on the floor vs. Oregon State. He scored six points and dished out a pair of assists vs. the Beavers.
SUPER POWERS After appearing in just five of the first nine games, junior guard Jeff Powers has played in nine of the last 11 games. He has scored all 22 of his points on the season and logged 102 of his 115 minutes of the year in his last nine games. Powers started the Bears' game against Washington State, playing a season-long 19 minutes against the Cougars. The junior suffered an injury vs. Oregon State which forced him to the sidelines after just five minutes on the floor and held him out last game vs. No. 10 Oregon.
BAK BAK Senior center Bak Bak has also increased his presence in the Bears' line-up. Over the last eight games, Bak has totaled 56 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 ARIZONA STATE Arizona State is one of the top teams in the Pac-12, currently sitting third in the standings with a 6-3 league mark. The Sun Devils are 17-5 overall, coming off a 96-92 loss to UW in Seattle.
ASU, which has won three of its past four games, with wins over USC, UCLA and WSU, has six Pac-12 wins at the halfway point for just the sixth time since joining the conference in 1978-79 (35 seasons).
The Sun Devils are tied for third in the nation with 155 blocks in 22 games this season. Junior center Jordan Bachynski ranks fourth in the country, averaging 4.1 blocks per contest.
Freshman guard Jahii Carson, a USBWA Freshman of the Year candidate, ranks third in the Pac-12 in scoring with a team-best 18.3 points per game. Carson also ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists per game (5.3). He has already set the ASU freshman record with 116 assists. The freshman has averaged the most minutes per game in the conference, playing 36.4 per game.
Senior guard Carrick Felix has posted a double-double for Arizona State in three of the last four games.
CALIFORNIA-ARIZONA STATE SERIES HISTORY California and Arizona State have met on the hardwood 72 times previously. The Golden Bears hold a 37-35 advantage in the all-time series with the Sun Devils. Cal has won the last five games in the series, dating back to the 2009-10 season. The Bears faced ASU just once last season, defeating the Sun Devils, 68-47, in Berkeley.
