Dec. 17, 2012

California Game Notes

BERKELEY - California looks to get back on track as the Golden Bears play host to UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday night at Haas Pavilion at 8:06 p.m. (PT).

The Pac-12 Networks will provide live national television coverage of Tuesday's game with Cal's own Roxy Bernstein handling the play-by-play and Ernie Kent serving as the analyst. It will be the second-straight Pac-12 Networks broadcast for the Bears.

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 Cal standout Jon Wheeler (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).

California looks to bounce back from a 74-64 defeat to No. 13/16 Creighton on Saturday night at home. The Bears enter Tuesday's contest 6-3 overall.

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 seven of its first nine opponents with a 39.9 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 Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs lead the Pac-12 in scoring and have paced the Bears in each of the first nine games. Crabbe is the league's scoring leader at 21.0 ppg., while Cobbs is fifth at 17.8 ppg. Crabbe ranks 11th in the nation in scoring through the weekend contests.

The pair has combined to score 349 of Cal's 643 points and connected on 117 of the Bears' 232 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 UC Santa Barbara game 31st in school history with 1,119 points in 74 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 nine games.

Cal has posted wins in each of its nine previous meetings with UC Santa Barbara.

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 Tuesday's UC Santa Barbara game 31st in school history in career scoring with 1,119 points in 74 career games.

CRABBE NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD LIST
Crabbe was named to the Preseason Top 50 list for the John Wooden Award for the second-straight season by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Nov. 8. He was one of just nine current players in the country named to the list in consecutive years.

PAC-12'S LEADING SCORER
With an average of 21.0 points per game through the season's first nine contests, Crabbe is the Pac-12 Conference's leading scorer and ranks 11th in the nation overall. His career-high 33 points against Pepperdine this season equals the 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. He is also among the conference leaders in three-point field goals made per game (T-4th, 2.1), free-throw percentage (6th, .846).

COBBS AND CRABBE
Junior guards Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe have combined to score 349 of Cal's 643 points through the first nine games. Crabbe has poured in a conference-leading 189 points on the year, while Cobbs is fifth in the league with 160 points.

JUNIOR GUARDS HAVE INCREASED MINUTES/PRODUCTION
Allen Crabbe has already recorded 48 more points this season than he did through the first nine games of his sophomore campaign. The guard, who is averaging 3.2 more minutes per game this season (34.2) than he did last year (31.0), had 141 points through the first nine games of 2011-12.

Justin Cobbs has surpassed his scoring total from the season's first nine games last season by 56 points in 2012-13. Last year, he recorded 104 points through the Bears' first nine games. He is averaging nearly 10 more minutes a game this season (36.3) as compared to last year (25.9)

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.

The Bears have out-rebounded seven of their nine opponents so far this season. 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, a +9 (40-31) advantage vs. Pacific and a +15 advantage last time out vs. No. 13 Creighton. Cal was only out-rebounded by Wisconsin (36-30) and UNLV (38-30).

NON-CONFERENCE HOME GAMES UNDER MONTGOMERY
The Bears are 31-5 in nonconference home games under Mike Montgomery. The UNLV loss on Dec. 9 was the first non-conference setback at home since dropping a 78-63 decision to No. 3 Kansas on Dec. 22, 2010. This past Saturday's defeat to No. 13 Creighton was the first time the bears have dropped back-to-back non-conference home games under Montgomery.

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. In the season opener vs. CSU Bakersfield, the sophomore posted a game-high three blocks to go along with nine rebounds. He is the team's leading rebounder with 76 through nine games, and ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with 8.4 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 last time out vs. No. 13 Creighton and has three double-digit rebounding performances this season.

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, playing in his first game since Jan. 12, 2012. After missing the final 15 games last season, Solomon has started each of the Bears' first nine games, averaging 8.4 ppg. and 6.2 rpg. He has scored in double figures in three of the last five games, matching his career-high of 14 against Pacific and No. 18 UNLV. The junior has totaled 34 rebounds over the last five games.

WALLACE LEARNING QUICKLY
Freshman guard Tyrone Wallace has developed into one of the Bears' leaders off the bench. The first-year player is averaging 6.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists playing in every game so far. He posted a season-best 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field against No. 18 UNLV and a season-high 10 rebounds to go with eight points last time out vs. No. 13 Creighton.

THURMAN EFFICIENT WITH MINUTES
Senior forward Robert Thurman has made the most of his minutes on the floor in 2012-13. The forward ranks second among non-starters who have played in all nine games. Thurman is averaging 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game this season.

KREKLOW BACK FOR BEARS
Sophomore guard Ricky Kreklow played in a collegiate game for the first time in nearly two years in Cal's second game of the season against Pepperdine on Nov. 13. The Missouri transfer made his Cal debut 6:30 into the game against the Waves, playing 17 minutes total. The guard recorded three points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in limited action. In an increased role (28 minutes) at Denver, Kreklow posted 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Kreklow, originally underwent surgery on his right foot during the pre-season, aggravated the injury in warm-ups prior to the Bears' DIRECTV Classic opener against Drake and missed five games before returning to the court last time out vs. No. 13 Creighton. He posted four points and two rebounds before fouling out in 15 minutes while guarding Bluejays' All-American Doug McDermott.

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. At Missouri, 13 of Kreklow's 22 field goals were from three-point range.

SENIOR TRIO LOOKS FOR ANOTHER LEAGUE TITLE
The senior class of guard Brandon Smith and forwards Bak Bak and Robert Thurman have provided veteran leadership for the Bears Each was a member of the 2009-10 team that won the league title. Smith played in 26 games that season, while Bak saw action in eight contests. Thurman redshirted after transferring from Norwich University.

All three have seen action in 2012-13. Smith has started each of the first nine games with 3.7 points in 21.9 minutes per contest. Thurman is Cal's second-leading scorer off the bench with 5.1 points in 17.9 minutes per game. Bak has seen time in four games, averaging 4.8 minutes per contest.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
UC Santa Barbara, out of the Big West Conference, comes to Berkeley with a 4-5 overall record. The Gauchos are coming off an 87-60 victory over San Diego Christian on Saturday at home.

Sophomore center Alan Williams leads three Gauchos averaging double figures in the scoring column this season. The 6-7 Williams is averaging 17.2 points and 9.4 rebounds. Freshman 6-8 forward Taran Brown is contributing 13.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest and junior 6-2 guard Kyle Boswell is registering 11.7 points per game.

UC Santa Barbara averages more than eight three-pointers per game (8.4) and has recorded 76 three-pointers in the first nine games with a 35.3 three-point field-goal percentage.

The Gauchos have have just one win on the road so far this season, posting an 83-80 overtime victory at Santa Clara on Dec. 1.

CALIFORNIA-UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES
California and UC Santa Barbara have met nine times previously with the Golden Bears owning a perfect 9-0 mark in the all-time series. The two teams met last season with Cal defeating the Gauchos, 70-50, in Berkeley. The Bears are 2-0 against UCSB under Mike Montgomery.