BearTalk

It’s not Job 1, but at some point tonight Jerome Randle almost certainly will become Cal’s career scoring leader.

Randle’s focus — and the Bears’ — will be getting past UCLA and into Saturday’s championship game in the Pac-10 tournament. But with 11 points, Randle will eclipse the total of 1,776 that Sean Lampley accumulated from 1998 through 2001.

At Cal’s weekly press conference earlier this week, Randle joked about taking the mark from another Chicago native.

“We were working out together this past summer, and he didn;t think I would break his record,” Randle said. “I’m pretty sure he’s a little frightened by it. It will happen. I guarantee you, it will happen. I don’t know when.”

Today’s the day.

Randle relishes the idea of getting the last word on the topic with Lampley. “I think he said one time, `That’s all I have. You’re going to come in here and take it away from me? I’m glad I’m close to doing it.

“But he’s a good guy. He’s been like a big brother ever since I’ve been here. It’s been cool.”

UCLA SCOUT: The Bears took UCLA apart pretty good at Pauley last month after a sluggish start. But I was impressed by the Bruins on Thursday in their 75-69 win over Arizona. They played much tougher and smarter than the Wildcats and with more purpose.

Getting freshman Reeves Nelson back after missing four games with a partially torn retina was big for UCLA. He provides the Bruins with toughness and energy. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and shot 8-for-9 from the floor. The Bruins were fairly efficient, shooting 53 percent, and got themselves to the foul line for 25 shots.

Cal will need to hone in on senior Michael Roll, who scored 18 points against Arizona and has hurt the Bears this season. He is a much better player this season than the one-dimensional guy we saw in the past. You get the feeling he’s not excited about having his name associated with possibly just the third losing season at UCLA since 1948.

The Bruins had played mostly zone defense for the past couple months, but mixed in a good dose of man-to-man against Arizona. Will be interesting to see if they go back to zone against Cal, which has struggled against that approach. In particular, Jerome Randle, at 5-8, has had a tough time seeing, passing or shooting around or over big zones. And UCLA starts no one shorter than 6-5. 

The Bruins will have a good crowd today — no USC in the tournament, so most of L.A. will be pulling for UCLA. This doesn’t figure to be an easy game.

WHAT’S AT STAKE: Regardless of what happens today or Saturday, Cal’s name will be called Sunday afternoon when the 65-team field to the NCAA Tournament is announced. The Bears don’t yet own the automatic bid, but they are in. For sure.

Their RPI computer rating was No. 21 before they dumped Oregon 90-74 in Thursday’s Pac-10 tournament opener, and Joe Lunardi, bracketologist for ESPN, had them as a No. 7 seed.

Another win or two, and the Bears could climb to a No. 6 seeding, perhaps even a No. 5. Most importantly, they likely now can avoid playing in the 8 vs. 9 game, which would send them into a second-round matchup against a No. 1 seed.

THIS YEAR: The Bears and Bruins split two regular-season games, UCLA winning 76-75 in overtime in Berkeley on a last-second shot by Michael Roll, and the Bears posting a 72-58 triumph at Pauley Pavilion. That win sparked Cal’s current hot stretch with eight wins in nine games, including a season-long five-game victory streak. Roll has averaged 20.5 ppg in the two games, shooting 7-for-14 from 3-point range. Cal’s Theo Robertson has scored 22.0 ppg in the two games and Patrick Christopher is at 17.0 ppg.

THE SERIES: UCLA leads the all-time series 131-96 and has won six of the past seven meetings.

MISCELLANY: With a victory today, Cal would equal its most wins in a season since the 1960 team that went 28-2 and lost in the national championship game. The Bears also won 23 games in 1996-97 and 2001-02 . . . UCLA is hoping to extend its season and ultimately avoid just its third losing campaign since 1948 . . . Randle has climbed to No. 11 on the all-time Bay Area Division I scoring list, just one point behind the late Ricky Berry, who totaled 1,767 points in three seasons at San Jose State. Randle is on target to become just the seventh player at one of the six local D-I schools to reach 1,800 points.

TIPOFF: 6:18 p.m.
WHERE: Staples Center, Los Angeles.
TV: CSNBA
RADIO: 1550-AM

PROBABLE LINEUPS

CAL (22-9, 13-5)
Starters                                 Ht   Yr   Pts   Rebs
SF Theo Robertson                    6-6   Sr.  13.4  4.7
PF Jamal Boykin                        6-8  Sr.   11.8  6.6
SF Omondi Amoke                     6-7  So.    4.8  4.7
SG Patrick Christopher              6-5  Sr.   16.1  5.5
PG Jerome Randle                    5-8  Sr.   18.8  4.6*

Key reserves
G Jorge Gutierrez                       6-3  So.  5.4  3.1
C Markhuri Sanders-Frison          6-7  Jr.   3.4  3.2
C Max Zhang                            7-2  S0.   3.4  2.5

UCLA (14-17, 8-10)
Starters                             Ht   Yr   Pts   Rebs
SF  Tyler Honeycott             6-9   Fr.   7.2    6.7
PF Reeve Nelson                 6-8  Fr.  11.3    5.7
SF Nikola Dragovic              6-9  Sr.  12.2   4.4
SG Michael Roll                   6-5  Sr.  13.6   3.6*
PG Malcolm Lee                 6-5   So.  12.3   3.1*

Key reserves
G Jerime Anderson              6-1  So.   5.4  3.4*
F Brendan Lane                    6-9   Fr.  2.4  1.5
G Mustafa Abdul-Hamid        6-2   Jr.   2.2  0.5
* – Assists