BearTalk

Cal got two more oral commitments on Monday, with a pair of junior college defenders joining coach Sonny Dykes’ roster for 2013.

Kyle Kragen, a 6-1, 225-pounder from Diablo Valley College, played both defensive end and linebacker the past two years. He attended high school at San Ramon Valley-Danville and is the son of Greg Kragen, a native of Pleasanton who starred at Utah State and eventually was a Pro Bowl defensive end for the Denver Broncos.

Joining Kragen is Sione Sina, a 6-4, 250-pound defensive end from College of San Mateo.

Both players will arrive at Cal with two seasons of eligibility.

Five prospects have committed to the Bears since Dykes’ arrival, giving them a total of 19.

The 8th-ranked Cal women’s basketball team improved to 8-1 with a 71-65 win at Northwestern on Monday morning. The Bears were led by sophomore guard Brittany Boyd, who had 18 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Cal returns to action Friday night at Haas Pavilion against No. 19 Kansas (9-1). Tipoff is 7 p.m.

UC Davis made official Monday morning what we all reported over the weekend — former longtime Cal assistant coach Ron Gould was named new head coach of the Aggies.

Gould spent 16 seasons as running backs coach for the Bears.

He replaces Bob Biggs, who retired after 20 seasons.

Click here for the Sacramento Bee’s story on Gould’s hiring.

Andy Buh, who coached linebackers at Wisconsin last season and is a former co-defensive coordinator for Stanford, will be Cal’s new defensive coordinator, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Buh, 39, has accepted an offer from new Cal coach Sonny Dykes, the Journal said. According to the Golden Bear Report, Utah State defensive coordinator Dave Aranda was offered the position, but turned it down.

Meanwhile, FootballScoop.com reported that Randy Stewart has been hired to coach defensive backs, Stewart, 54, comes from Eastern Michigan but was defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal from 1997 through 2001.

Stewart, who coached Deltha O’Neal and Nnamdi Asomugha at Cal, worked briefly alongside Buh during his 10-year stint at Fresno State. The graduate of Boise State coached linebackers at Eastern Michigan this fall.

Buh’s hiring is a critical one for Dykes, whose Louisiana Tech team this season led the nation in scoring but was among the worst defensively.

Buh (pronounced “Boo”) would have faced Stanford in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, but is the fifth assistant from the Badgers’ coaching staff to take another job since Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema departed for Arkansas.

Buh reportedly was offered a position by Bielema, but opted for the promotion at Cal. In 2000 and ’01, he was a defensive administrative assistant on Tom Holmoe’s staff at Cal.

Before his one season at Madison, Wis., Buh spent two seasons as defensive coordinator at Nevada, his alma mater. He coached at Stanford from 2007 through ’09, the last year as co-defensive coordinator.

A native of Escondido, Buh coached linebackers at San Diego State from 2002 through ’05, then worked one season at Fresno State.

The website Footballscoop.com reported that former long-time Cal running backs coach Ron Gould will be named head coach at UC Davis on Monday.

Gould, 47, spent 16 seasons at Cal, the past 11 under coach Jeff Tedford.

He recruited and coached the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Jahvid Best, J.J. Arrington, Justin Forsett and Shane Vereen at Cal.

Gould did not return two text requests Saturday for confirmation he will replace Bob Biggs as Aggies coach. Biggs retired after this past season, his 20th as head coach at Davis.

Click here for my game story.

FINAL SCORE: Creighton 74, Cal 64. Junior All-America forward Doug McDermott scored 34 points for the No. 16 Bluejays (10-1). Allen Crabbe missed his first 12 shots finished 6 for 26 with 14 points for Cal (6-3), which lost its third straight. Cobbs led Cal with 18 points and seven assists. He banged his head on a drive to the basket with 23 seconds left, but coach Mike Montgomery said afterward he believed he was OK. Freshman Tyrone Wallace had eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots before becoming one of three Cal players to foul out.

2:35 2nd H: Cal down 65-58 after putback by Cobbs, who has 13 points. McDermott has 28.

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New Cal coach Sonny Dykes added two more assistant coaches to his staff, bringing the total to four aides. All formerly worked for him at Louisiana Tech.

Hired on Friday were Mark Tommerdahl, special team coordinator and inside receivers coach, and Pierre Ingram, running backs coach.

Earlier this week, Dykes brought on offensive coordinator Tony Stewart and assistant head coach/receivers coach Rob Likens.

Still to be named are Cal’s new offensive line coach and the entire defensive staff, including coordinator.

At the front of a long line of people who never expected Doug McDermott to become one of the best players in college basketball is the man who knows him best.

“I don’t think anyone saw this on the horizon, that he would make the monumental strides he has,” said Greg McDermott, Doug’s father and coach at Creighton University.

Cal (6-2) will get the chance to see just how good the 6-foot-8 junior is when the 16th-ranked Bluejays (9-1) visit Haas Pavilion on Saturday night.

Click here to read the rest of my story on Doug and Greg McDermott.

Check out 10 of the most notable father-son duos in college basketball history.

TIPOFF: 8 p.m.  Saturday at Haas Pavilion. TV/Radio: Pac-12 Networks/910 AM.

The Bears return to the court for the final game of the toughest three-game stretch in their nonconference schedule. Cal lost 81-56 at Wisconsin on Dec. 2 and 76-75 at home to UNLV last Sunday.

“In my opinion, Creighton is the best of the three teams we will have played in this stretch,” Cal coach Mike Montgomery said of the 16th-ranked Bluejays.

To overcome Creighton, the Bears will need a performance from junior guard Justin Cobbs that more resembles the way he played the first six games this season than the past two.

The difference is significant:

– Cobbs was perhaps the Bears’ best player the first six games, averaging 20 points on 63.5-percent shooting from the field, while contributing 5.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists with just 3.0 turnovers per game.

– Over the past two games, Cobbs’ scoring has slipped to 11 points per game on 30-percent accuracy, with just 1.0 rebound, 3.5 assists and 6.0 turnovers per game.

“Obviously, it’s been a little tougher, tougher to get the shots you want. They’re taking a lot of things away,” he said. “As a basketball player, you just have to adjust and do other things to help the tean win. It doesn’t always have to be scoring.”

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