BearTalk

FINAL SCORE: Cal 82, Iowa State 63. Back, as promised, at least for a moment. An excellent win for the Bears (5-3), who dominated the second half against the Cyclones (6-3). Christopher had just four points at halftime, and finished with 20 to go with 11 rebounds. Randle shot poorly but had 18 points and nine assists. The stars were Amoke and Zhang. Amoke had 11 points and 14 rebounds off the bench and Max had seven points and three blocks and did a nice job defending NBA prospect Brackins, who had to work for his 21 points (8-for-19 FGs). Gutierrez added 12 for Cal. Bears forged a 51-32 rebounding edge.

11:20 2nd H: Cal’s lead is 59-44.  Deadline beckons for the print edition, so you may not hear much from me for a while.

15:05 2nd H: Cal leads 47-42. Christopher has come alive a bit, scoring a pair of hoops. Gutierrez made another 3-pointer, which pushed Cal’s lead to 47-39. But Brackins continues to work hard for the Cyclones and has 17 points, including a dunk in transition.

HALFTIME: Cal leads 38-31 after a very strong final 3 minutes. Max is making an impression — swatted a shot by Brackins, who has 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Randle has 12 points for Cal. Amoke has six points and seven rebounds. Call is shooting 44.4 percent and has a 25-13 rebounding edge. Iowa State is shooting 34.4 percent, including 3-for-13 from 3-point.

2:58 1st H: Cal leads 31-29. Amoke just came out, but he’s played with great energy and has six points and seven points already. Randle has 12 points and is too quick for anyone Iowa State has. Zhang is frustrating Brackins a bit, although the Iowa State junior is quite good. He’s got 12 points, but Max forced him into a turnover a couple possessions ago. Good game.

7:45 1st H: Iowa State leads 23-21. The Bears have tried three different players on Brackins — Zhang, Markhuri Sanders-Frison and Omondi Amoke. He’s got 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Iowa State is shooting 38 percent, Cal 43 percent. Randle leads the Bears with eight points. Christopher, who did not score in the final 19 1/2 minutes of Cal’s loss at New Mexico, is 1-for-5 with two points.

THIS SCORE JUST IN: K-State polished off WSU 86-69, giving the Big 12 a 6-1 series lead.

10:50 1st H: Iowa State just took its first lead on a 3-pointer by Scott Christopherson. Cyclones are up 19-17. Brackins has eight points for Iowa State on 3-for-6 shooting from the field. Gutierrez has five points for Cal.

15:54 1st H: Cal leads 9-5 at the first timeout. Randle has a pair of baskets on quick drives to the hoop and Gutierrez has a 3-pointer. Zhang is defending Brackins, who is likely the main reason 10 NBA teams sent scouts tonight. Max forced him to miss his first two tries, but the 6-10 Brackins made a nice shot over him the third time. The Cyclones continue going to Brackins, who just drew a foul from Zhang. Will shoot 2.

BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES

The Pac-10 entered play today trailing 4-1 in the season series with the Big 12, finally getting a victory Friday night, thanks to Oregon State. Already today Missouri has crushed Oregon 106-69 in Columbia, Mo., meaning the slate now stands at 5-1. Considering that Washington State trails 73-48 at Kansas State midway through the second half, it’s safe to presume the Pac-10 will be down 6-1 by the time the Bears and Cyclones work up a good sweat. 

STARTING LINEUPS

Cal (4-3) will start Max Zhang at center for the third consecutive game. Joining him in the starting five are Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Jorge Gutierrez and Jamal Boykin. Iowa State (6-2) will start Craig Brackins, Justin Hamilton, Marquis Gilstrap, Lucca Staiger and Diante Garrett.

GETTING STARTED

Greetings from Haas Pavilion. We’re about 30 minutes away from the start of Cal’s game with Iowa State in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. First thing you need to know — senior Theo Robertson is in street clothes and not playing. This will be the sixth consecutive game the Bears’ starting small forward has missed with a right foot injury.