BearTalk

FINAL SCORE: Cal 79, Pacific 54. Christopher had 22 points and 10 rebounds, his second straight 20/10 game. Randle had 15 and six assists, Boykin 13 points and Gutierrez 1o. Cal (6-3) shot 52.5 percent from the field, outrebounded the Tigers 45-30 and held UOP to 33.3 percent shooting. Pacific (6-2) was 4-for-23 from 3-PT. Montgomery was pleased with Robertson, who had eight points in his return after missing six games with a right foot injury. Christopher talked about the Bears’ quick start and their ability to take the big crowd — 8,704 — out of the game.  Monty said the Bears’ second-half defense took away any notion the Tigers might mount a comeback. Another pretty good effort by the Bears.

3:40 2nd H: The Bears are in command at 72-50. Pacific had not allowed more than 63 points in a game all season until tonight. Christopher has 22 points and nine rebounds. Randle has 13 points — his first-half total. 

11:05 2nd H: The pace is getting a bit too fast, but the Bears have control, leading 57-36. Ragged play the past few minutes. Christopher just hit a long 2-point jumper off the break while Montgomery was screaming to slow things. Oh well, worse things could happen to the Bears. Christopher has 22, one off his season high. His career high is 29.

12:51 2nd H: Christopher has 20 points and the Bears lead 55-36. Robertson re-entered the game with 14:01 left.

15:39 2nd H: Cal scored the first eight points of the second half to push its lead to 49-27, and now has a 51-33 advantage. Christopher has 16 points. Pacific shot its sixth airball. What’s the record?

HALFTIME: Cal 41, Pacific 27. Gutierrez just hit a 3-pointer with :03 left in the half and the Bears have equaled their biggest lead. A fast-paced, high-energy first half. Cal is shooting 58.6 percent (17-for-29), including 5-for-7 from 3PT. UOP is at 36.7 percent (11-for-30), and is 2-for-10 from 3PT. The Tigers hoisted five airballs in the half. Cal has a 19-12 rebounding edge. Bears have seven TOs, UOP just four. Randle has 13 points, Christopher 12 and Boykin nine for Cal. Nunnally leads Pacific with 12.

3:58 1st H: Cal’s lead is 31-19. Robertson is slow to get in a rhythm. He has two turnovers and is 0-for-2 from the field, one of them blocked. The Bears are shooting 56.5 percent, Pacific 33.3 percent, including 0-for-6 from 3PT. Robertson just came out of the game.

7:00 1st H: Cal leads 29-15. Randle just hit a 3-pointer and has eight points. Cal is shooting 60 percent, Pacific 31.6 percent, but has six offensive rebounds. Michael Nunnally has eight points.

11:32 1st H: Cal leads 23-13. Christopher has 12 points and hasn’t missed a shot. The Bears are shooting 10-for-14 by my figuring– no official stats available right now.

12:46 1st H: Bob Thomason of Pacific just called timeout after a fastbreak alley-oop pass from Randle to Christopher for a dunk. That made it 21-11. Christopher has 10 points already.

13:44 1st H: Theo Robertson just entered the game.

15:25 1st H: Cal leads 12-7 after a long 3-pointer by Christopher. Randle has five points, including a 3-pointer, and Zhang hit two early jump shots. Well, set shots, anyway. But Monty was right — Pacific is not backing down.

THE CROWD: The place is starting to fill up. Not SRO, but looks like it will be a nice house. This is a terrific little arena, with a row of luxury suites across the top on both sides of the court.

STARTING LINEUPS: Cal will start Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Jorge Gutierrez, Jamal Boykin and Max Zhang. Pacific goes with Demetrece Young, Terrell Smith, Joe Ford, Michael Nunnally and Sam Willard.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? Cal leads the all-time series 24-2 and has not lost to Pacific since Dec. 10, 1954. The Bears are 75-6 all-time against teams from the Big West Conference. Pacific is 16-81 vs. the Pac-10.

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Greetings from Stockton.

TV QUESTIONS: For anyone wondering how to find the game on their TV, be advised you must watch it online through Big West.TV, a subscription internet broadcast at www.bigwest.org/tv. Whether it’s worth your while to shell out a few $$$ for this, that’s up to you. We’ll try to keep you up-to-date with our regular in-game posts.

WARMUPS: Both teams are on the floor, and that includes Cal senior Theo Robertson, who definitely will play tonight. Pacific’s players are wearing “I Love Stockton” T-shirts to commemorate this “Stockton Showcase” event. UOP announced Thursday it already had sold more than 7,300 seats for the game, making it the biggest crowd to ever watch a Pacific home game. Well, most of them haven’t arrived yet.