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Women's Basketball
BERKELEY - For the fifth time this season, California newcomer Kristine Anigwe was voted Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday. The honor marks her fifth in seven weeks of the season. Arizona State's Arnecia Hawkins was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Week.
Playing 32 minutes of No. 21 Cal's 50-minute, double overtime tangle with No. 19 UCLA last Monday, Anigwe notched her fourth consecutive double-double and fifth in six games after turning in a 25-point, 10-rebound performance. The frosh's work in the paint included five offensive boards, while her defensive effort included one block and two steals without committing a single turnover.
Anigwe has scored in double figures in every game this season, including five 20-point performances, and is averaging 30.25 points per game in her last four outings. She leads the Bears with 21.4 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game through 10 outings this season.
Men's Basketball
BERKELEY - Given one last opportunity to fine tune its game before starting Pac-12 play, the Cal men's basketball team showed it is indeed ready to start hunting for conference success as a red-hot shooting night coupled with equally strong defense paved the way for an 86-60 victory over Davidson at Haas Pavilion.
Jordan Mathews led Cal (10-3) with a season-high 22 points, going 5 for 8 from 3-point range to help Cal make a season-high 12 from beyond the arc. Jaylen Brown added 17 points and seven rebounds while Ivan Rabb notched his fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Peyton Aldridge led Davidson (8-3) with 15.
Cal's recent trend of strong defensive play in the first half continued Monday, and the Bears turned their effort on that end of the court into lots of easy offense to build a decisive lead by halftime. They held Davidson to 1 for its first 8 from the floor, giving the hosts time to build an 11-2 advantage right off the bat.
VICE: Cuonzo Martin Wants to Take Cal Basketball Back to the Future
Cal hoops coach Cuonzo Martin must be one hell of a card player. On the sidelines, his tone and demeanor rarely change; his suits don't even seem to wrinkle. He isn't a tactician known for sui generis schemes like John Beilein or Shaka Smart. He isn't an icon who gets blue-chip recruits because of his, or his program's, name recognition. But in his second year with the Golden Bears, Martin looks like the right man for one of college basketball's most unusual jobs.
For half a century, Cal has been trying to make up for lost time and find a replacement for legendary head coach Pete Newell, who led the Bears to consecutive national championship games in 1959 and 1960, during the primordial years of the NCAA era. Before he retiredâat the age of 44, on the advice of his doctorsâNewell was a legendary molder of (big) men; his name is on an award for best collegiate frontcourt player, and on basketball's preeminent big man camp. Newell built a strong program at Cal, won his final eight matchups against John Wooden's UCLA teams, and then watched helplessly as UCLA put the sport into a musty submission hold in the 60s. Newell's successor, Rene Herrerias, won half as many games in his first year as Newell had in his last, and lost 100 of his 192 games.
Herrerias kicked off a three-decade NCAA Tournament drought. Cal was part of a brief golden era for Bay Area hoops in the 1990s, when Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray stayed home to wreck the Pac-12 while Run-TMC stomped their Adidas through NBA arenas. Still, it has been a long time since Cal really mattered in college basketball.
Martin is looking to change that, one possession at a time. "I'm used to a more grind-it-out defensive style," Martin explained to VICE Sports. "Play a half-court possession game, run in transition when you have the opportunity."
Armed Forces Bowl: California 55, Air Force 36
Cal QB sets Armed Forces Bowl record in rout of Air Force
There were plenty of people who showed up at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl just to get a glimpse of California junior quarterback Jared Goff.
He didn't disappoint.
Goff, who figures to be a high pick if he declares for the NFL Draft as expected, shredded the Air Force defense for six touchdowns Tuesday to lead the Golden Bears to a 55-36 victory over the Falcons at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Goff threw three of his touchdown passes in a span of five offensive plays for Cal in the first half after the Falcons had tied the game at 14. That outburst put Cal up by 14 and the Golden Bears (8-5) never looked back.
Goff set an Armed Forces Bowl record for touchdown passes and passing yards (467). His 43rd touchdown pass this season set a Pac-12 record, eclipsing the 42 of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota of Oregon last year.
Dr. Saturday: Cal's Jared Goff throws for 6 TDs in Armed Forces Bowl win
If the Armed Forces Bowl turns out to be the final game of Jared Goff's college career, he went out with a bang.
Goff, Cal's junior quarterback, is considered a top NFL draft prospect and showed why in a 55-36 win over Air Force. Goff threw for 467 yards and six touchdowns on the afternoon, carving up the Falcons secondary with ease. Goff's six touchdown passes give him the Pac-12 record for most in a single season with 43.Goff spread the ball around to a bevy of targets, led by Bryce Treggs, Kenny Lawler and Darius Powe. Treggs led the way with 143 yards and a touchdown while Lawler and Power hauled in three and two touchdowns apiece.
In all, the Golden Bears put up a whopping 586 yards offensively and scored on six straight possessions between the second and third quarters, not including the end of the first half.
Jared Goff was trending as high as #4 in the United States on Twitter yesterday.
Jared Goff broke Cal's record for most passing yards in a bowl game, surpassing a current NFL star pic.twitter.com/kZOdzIls6r
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 30, 2015
Record-setting Jared Goff leads Cal to huge Armed Forces Bowl win over Air Force
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Air Force didn't stand a chance against Cal's aerial attack.
Junior quarterback Jared Goff and his arsenal of receivers played pitch-and-catch Tuesday to the tune of 467 yards and six touchdowns. Cal, making the postseason for the first time in five seasons, routed Air Force 55-36 in the Armed Forces Bowl, held at TCU's stadium.
It was Cal's first bowl victory since 2008. It got the Bears to eight wins for the first time since 2009. It served as the exclamation point for a program that completed the mission of climbing out of the doldrums.
"It's been a fun ride," said Goff, announcing that he would discuss with his parents the NFL option before deciding. "To go from 1-11 (in 2013) to last year being so close, to this year winning eight games and finishing with a bowl victory, it's really as much as you can ask for. It's been a lot of fun."