Dec. 27, 2012

California Game Notes

BERKELEY - California concludes its five-game homestand and the non-conference portion of its slate when the Bears host Harvard in their final game of the calendar year on Saturday at 5:06 p.m. (PT) inside Haas Pavilion.

The Pac-12 Networks will provide live national television coverage of Saturday's game with Ted Robinson handling the play-by-play and Ernie Kent serving as the analyst. It will be the fourth-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 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 4:30 p.m. (PT). You can also access the game on Sirius channel 139 and on XM channel 193.

California, 8-3 overall this season, looks for its third-straight win after posting an 85-53 victory over Prairie View A&M last Saturday at home.

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 on Nov. 23, a 20-point victory over Pacific on Nov. 25 and a 32-point win over Prairie View A&M on Dec. 22.

Cal has out-rebounded nine of its first 11 opponents with a 40.8 rpg. Average 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 47.7 rebounds per game over the last three 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 13th nationally at 20.4 points per game, while Cobbs ranks seventh in the conference at 16.5 points per contest.

The pair has combined to score 406 of Cal's 796 points (51 percent) and connected on 137 of the Bears' 289 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 Harvard game 28th in school history with 1,154 points in 76 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 two games ago vs. 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 Saturday's Harvard game 28th in school history in career scoring with 1,154 points in 76 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 20.4 points per game through the season's first 11 contests, Crabbe leads the Pac-12 Conference in scoring and 13th 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 (4th, 2.1), free-throw percentage (8th, .836) and three-point field goal percentage (10th, .397).

COBBS AND CRABBE
Junior guards Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe have combined to score 406 of Cal's 796 points through the first 11 games. Crabbe leads the Pac-12 conference with 224 points on the year, while Cobbs is seventh in the league with 182 points.

JUNIOR GUARDS HAVE INCREASED MINUTES/PRODUCTION
Allen Crabbe has already recorded 50 more points this season than he did through the first 11 games of his sophomore campaign. The guard, who is averaging 2.6 more minutes per game this season (33.5) than he did last year (30.9), had 174 points through the first 11 games of 2011-12.

Justin Cobbs has surpassed his scoring total from the season's first 11 games last season by 63 points in 2012-13. Last year, he recorded 119 points through the Bears' first 11 games. He is averaging nearly 8.2 more minutes a game this season (34.8) as compared to last year (26.6)

NON-CONFERENCE HOME GAMES UNDER MONTGOMERY
The Bears are 33-5 in non-conference home games under Mike Montgomery following Saturday's win over Prairie View A&M.

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. Last Saturday's defeat to No. 13 Creighton was the first time the Bears had dropped back-to-back non-conference home games under Montgomery.

CONTROLLING THE GLASS
The Bears have out-rebounded nine of their 11 opponents so far this season. Cal out-rebounded each of its first six opponents and recorded 40 or more rebounds in four-straight games earlier this year for the first time since the 1997-98 season. 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.

Cal has out-rebounded its opponent and posted at least 45 rebounds in each of the last three games. The Bears are averging 47.7 rebounds per game in their last three contests. Cal ranks second in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 40.8 rebounds per contest this season.

WALLACE AN INSTANT IMPACT
Freshman guard Tyrone Wallace has seen his minutes increase as the season has progressed. He earned his first career start in the 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 - one of 51 double-doubles in the Pac-12 this season.

He is Cal's fifth-leading scorer and lone freshman to play in all 11 games so far this season. Wallace has played at least 25 minutes in each of the last five games. He tied his career-long outing with 30 minutes (also played 30 min. vs. Georgia Tech) last time out vs. Prairie View A&M.

In the first four games of Cal's current five-game homestand, Wallace has averaged 9.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists vs. No. 18 UNLV, No. 13 Creighton, UCSB and Prairie View A&M. Two of his three double-figure scoring outputs have come in the last four games with a season-best 13 points vs. UNLV and 10 vs. UCSB.

SOLOMON RETURNING TO FORM
Junior Richard Solomon returned to the Cal lineup in the season opener after missing the final 15 games of last season, Solomon has started each of the Bears' first 11 games, averaging 8.9 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. He has scored in double figures in five games, including a career-high 18 points last time out vs. Prairie View A&M.

The junior ranks second on the team in rebounding and third in scoring.

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 84 through 11 games, and ranks eighth in the Pac-12 with 7.6 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 vs. No. 13 Creighton and has three double-digit rebounding performances this season. 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.

THURMAN EFFICIENT WITH MINUTES
Senior forward Robert Thurman has made the most of his minutes on the floor in 2012-13. The forward leads all non-starters with 5.6 ppg. and 3.6 rpg. in just 17.9 minutes per contest. Thurman is posted a season-high 14 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes vs. UC Santa Barbara two games ago.

KREKLOW RETURNS TO COURT
Sophomore guard Ricky Kreklow, who sat out last season after transferring from Missouri, made his Cal debut against Pepperdine in the second game of the season on Nov. 13. He recorded three points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in 17 minutes vs. the Waves. In an increased role (28 minutes) at Denver, Kreklow posted 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

The sophomore has been limited this season after undergoing surgery on his right foot during the pre-season. He aggravated the injury in warm-ups prior to the Drake game on Nov. 22 and missed five games before returning to the court vs. No. 13 Creighton on Dec. 15. He posted four points and two rebounds before fouling out in 15 minutes while guarding Bluejays' All-American Doug McDermott.

Kreklow rested his right foot last time out vs. Prairie View A&M and is day-to-day as he continues to work his way back into the rotation.

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.

SCOUTING HARVARD
Harvard travels west where the Crimson will play a pair of games in the Golden State. Following Saturday's game in Berkeley, they will play at Saint Mary's on Monday.

Harvard is 6-4 overall with victories in each of its last two games against Boston University and Holy Cross.

Sophomore guard Wesley Saunders, one of four guards in the starting lineup, leads Harvard in scoring at 15.8 points per game, while freshman guard Siyani Chambers is contributing 12.7 points along with 5.1 assists per contest.

As a team, Harvard is shooting 40.4 percent from three-point range with an average of 6.3 three-pointers per contest.

Head coach Tommy Amaker is in his sixth season at Harvard. He owns a 98-60 record at the helm of the Crimson.

CALIFORNIA-HARVARD SERIES HISTORY
California and Harvard have met twice on the hardwood before with the Golden Bears taking both contests in the all-time series. Cal defeated the Crimson, 69-54, nearly 11 years to the day on Dec. 28, 2001 in Berkeley. The Bears also posted a 77-74 victory over Harvard on Dec. 22, 1970 in Ann Arbor, Mich.