Dec. 7, 2012

California Game Notes

BERKELEY - After four games away from Haas Pavilion, California returns to Berkeley for the first time in three weeks when the Golden Bears host No. 18/21 UNLV on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. (PT).

ESPNU will provide live national television coverage of Sunday's game with Dave Flemming 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 NewsTalk 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 through CalBears.com/All-Access. The pre-game show starts at 2:30 p.m. (PT).

California looks to bounce back from its first setback of the season last Sunday at Wisconsin. The Bears are 6-1 overall, matching their best start since opening 6-1 during head coach Mike Montgomery's inaugural season at Cal in 2008-09.

Cal dropped an 81-56 decision to the Big Ten foe in Madison, Wisc. last Sunday. Despite getting a game-high 25 points from junior Allen Crabbe, the Bears fell behind early and could not overcome a cold shooting performance in the defeat.

Five of the Bears' six wins this season have come by double digits, including two of the last three victories - an 11-point win over Georgia Tech on Nov. 23 and a 20-point victory over Pacific on Nov. 25.

Cal has out-rebounded six of its first seven opponents with a 39.4 rpg. average. The Bears recorded 40 or more rebounds in four-straight games earlier this season for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign.

The junior guard duo of Crabbe and Justin Cobbs lead the Pac-12 in scoring and have paced the Bears in each of the first seven games. Crabbe is the league's scoring leader at 22.4 ppg., while Cobbs is fourth at 18.7 ppg. Crabbe ranks sixth in the nation in scoring through Thursday's action.

The pair has combined to score 288 of Cal's 504 points and connected on 96 of the Bears' 177 field goals this season. The duo is shooting a combined .542 (96-of-177) from the floor.

Crabbe became the 42nd member of the school's 1,000-point club with 20 points at Denver on Nov. 16. He enters the UNLV game 31st in school history with 1,087 points in 72 career games.

Crabbe and Cobbs are joined in the line-up by junior forward Richard Solomon, sophomore forward David Kravish and senior guard Brandon Smith. The Bears have used the same starting lineup in all seven games.

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 Sunday's UNLV game 31st in school history in career scoring with 1,087 points in 72 career games.

PAC-12'S LEADING SCORER
With an average of 22.4 points per game through the season's first seven contests, Crabbe is the Pac-12 Conference's leading scorer and ranks sixth in the nation overall entering Friday's games. His career-high 33 points against Pepperdine this season equaled the most points by an individual in the conference through Thursday's action. Oregon State's Ahmad Starks scored 33 against New Mexico State on Nov. 11. He is also among the conference leaders in three-point field goals made per game (5th, 2.3), free-throw percentage (5th, .875) and three-point field goal percentage (8th, .432) through Friday.

CRABBE FROM THE LINE
Crabbe has attempted 221 career free throws through the first seven games of his junior season in Berkeley, converting 184 of those attempts. The guard owns an .833 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 and 4-of-4 vs. Georgia Tech. Crabbe is 35-of-40 from the free throw line this season.

CRABBE FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Crabbe is one of the Pac-12 conference's top three-point shooters. Through seven games of his junior season, he has drained 161 career three-pointers, which ranks fifth on Cal's all-time list. His .403 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.

Junior guards Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe have combined to score 288 of Cal's 504 points through the first seven games. Crabbe has poured in a conference-leading 157 points on the year, while Cobbs is seventh in the league with 131 points.

The duo has connected on 96 of the Bears' 177 field goals this season and is shooting a combined .542 (96-of-177) from the floor through the first seven games of the year.

SIX WINS TO START THE SEASON
California opened the season 6-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Cal defeated Southern Mississippi, Nicholls State, San Diego State, Nevada, Missouri and Jackson State in 2007.

The Dec. 2 loss at Wisconsin was the latest the Bears suffered their first loss since 2007 as well, when Cal also fell for the first time in its seventh game of the year, an 82-75 loss at Kansas State on Dec. 9. Cal recorded a perfect November (6-0) for the first time since the 2007 season as well when the Bears posted a 4-0 mark in the opening month.

MOST CONSECUTIVE 40-REBOUND GAMES IN 15 YEARS
Cal out-rebounded each of its first six opponents and recorded 40 or more rebounds in four-straight games earlier this season for the first time since the 1997-98 season. In that year, the Bears posted at least 40 rebounds in five consecutive games - 41 vs. Houston, 46 vs. Portland State, 40 vs. BYU, 42 vs. New Hampshire and 42 vs. VCU.

In 2012-13, Cal posted a +8 (46-38) advantage against CSU Bakersfield, a +3 (39-36) edge vs. Pepperdine, a +12 (40-28) advantage at Denver, a +14 (40-26) edge vs. Drake, a +12 (41-29) advantage vs. GT and a +9 (40-31) advantage vs. Pacific. Cal was out-rebounded (36-30) for the first time all season last time out at Wisconsin.

CAL AGAINST NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS
Sunday's game will be Cal's first against a team ranked in the Top 25 since Dec. 23, 2011 when the Bears last faced UNLV, in Las Vegas. The Bears last victory over a Top 25 team came on Nov. 25, 2010 against No. 20 Temple (57-50) in Orlando, Fla. Their last win against a Top 25 team at home came on Feb. 5, 2009 against No. 22 Washington (86-71). Cal is 3-10 against nationally-ranked teams in the Mike Montgomery era.

SCOUTING UNLV
UNLV comes to Berkeley following a 68-60 victory at Portland on Tuesday night. The Runnin' Rebels have won each of their last four games and six contests overall. Their lone loss this season came to Pac-12 foe Oregon (83-79) at home. Portland was their first road game of the 2012-13 season.

Freshman forward Anthony Bennett leads UNLV in scoring with 18.7 points per game. He is one of five Runnin' Rebels averaging double figures in the scoring column this season. Junior forward Mike Moser is owns a 12.3 ppg. average and a team-best 9.2 rebounds per contest. He missed UNLV's last game with a hip injury. As a team, UNLV averaged better than 80 points and 43 rebounds per game through the first seven contests.

Two current players once played in the Pac-12, including Moser (UCLA) and Bryce Dejean-Jones (USC).

LAST MEETING AGAINST THE RUNNIN' REBELS
The Golden Bears dropped an 85-68 decision to the No. 21 UNLV on Dec. 23, 2011 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Justin Cobbs led the Bears with 20 points and five assists, while Allen Crabbe had 13 points and six rebounds Anthony Marshall had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead UNLV.

Chace Stanback had 15 points and Mike Moser added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Rebels. UNLV shot 49 percent from the field and had 22 assists.

CALIFORNIA-UNLV SERIES HISTORY
California and UNLV have met five times previously. The Runnin' Rebels own a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series. Cal's lone win in the series came on Nov. 28, 2008. The Bears defeated the Runnin' Rebels, 73-55, in the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas in Mike Montgomery's fifth game as head coach at Cal. UNLV defeated Cal, 85-68, on Dec. 23 of last season in Las Vegas. In the lone home game for Cal in the series, the Bears were edged by UNLV, 73-72, on Dec. 1, 2004. UNLV also owns wins during the 1989-90 and 2003-04 seasons.