Golden Nuggets: Cal Reclaims First Place in Pac-10 Standings

After the 25-0 fiasco on Thursday, Cal showed some much needed toughness and resilience in its win over UCLA.

"We've been losing games down the stretch," point guard Jerome Randle said, "so we wanted to be aggressive and get a big lead this time."

Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson each scored 20 points, as Randle (14 points, six assists) took his foot off the pedal and calmly led the offense against UCLA's zone defense.

Cal is now 14-0 when it shoots over 46 percent.

"We started slowly, made a couple of substitutions, got some energy and started playing very well," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "Jerome did a marvelous job running the team. He was patient and never panicked."

The Bruins (11-12, 6-5) scored on 10 of 11 possessions early and led 22-8 eight minutes in.

That's when reserves Markhuri Sanders-Frison and Omondi Amoke gave the Bears a push, literally, around the glass and defensively.

After Montgomery had gone small and started third guard Jorge Gutierrez, Sanders-Frison and Amoke turned the game around with 12 rebounds, seven offensive. Cal outrebounded UCLA 31-23.

"That's my job, to bring some energy and be the enforcer," said the 6-foot-8, 275-pound Sanders-Frison, who also had six points and a steal in 25 minutes.

He has been bothered by back spasms and foul trouble, but he only had one foul Saturday - "a record," he said, smiling.

Sanders-Frison went barreling over a cameraman in the second half, this after he butted heads with UCLA bruiser Reeves Nelson early. Nelson, ineffective the rest of the game, was diagnosed with a concussion afterward.

Two days earlier, it was Cal that was jarred, outscored 25-0 at one point in a loss at USC. But the Bears had their own 25-point margin, a 33-8 run, against the Bruins.

After the jump we have more on Cal's win over UCLA and a recap of women's basketball's bizarre loss to UCLA (a game that was scoreless 10 minutes in).

Cal Basketball

• Faraudo's live thread follows the game as it unfolds.  It was ugly early until Cal's 33-8 run gave them the lead permanently.  Faraudo recaps the game for CCTimes.
• Monty attended Price High's 79-45 win over Lutheran of La Verne.  He watched Cal commits Allen Crabbe and Richard Solomon who had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots, respectively.
• Cal women's bball lost to UCLA 44-32.  It was an ugly game and still scoreless 10 minutes in.  Cal went on an 8-0 run before UCLA closed out the first half with a 14-0 run.  After the game Boyle said she was "disappointed in our execution, our offensive execution, and in our toughness."