BearTalk

The Bears outscored Pacific 14-3 over the final 4:17 of the half to push their lead to 26-20.

Theo Robertson scored eight points during the run, including a pair of 3-pointers. One of them was a bit lucky, a fall-away shot at the end of the 24-second clock that banked in. On the next possession, however, he swished one from the top of the key.

Cal finished the half shooting 54.5 percent, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range. The Tigers, who went nearly 6 minutes at point without a field goal, converted 29.6 percent. They were 2-for-12 from the 3-point arc.

This was a much better defensive effort than the Bears gave nine days earlier in their exhibition win over Seattle Pacific, which scored 42 points in the opening half. UOP did collect seven offensive rebounds, but Cal otherwise defended well.

Cal took command despite eight turnovers and getting almost nothing from starting power forward Jamal Boykin, who picked up two quick fouls and played just 5 minutes.

But Jerome Randle had 11 points in the half, Robertson 10 and Harper Kamp provided some encouragement by playing two different stints off the bench. In the exhibition game, Kamp played nine minutes in the first half, but his sore right knee would not allow him to return once he took a seat.