BearTalk

UCLA knocked off Washington 75-69 at the L.A. Sports Arena, keeping alive Cal’s chances for a Pac-12 co-title.

The Bears (23-7, 13-4) can earn a share of the regular-season conference crown by beating Stanford on Sunday. The Bears and Cardinal tip off at 2:30 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.

Washington (21-9, 14-4) clinched a co-title on Thursday with a win at USC, but scored just nine points over the final 12:50 against UCLA and could not take Cal out of the equation.

A win over Stanford would not only give Cal a share of its second conference crown in three seasons, but also secure the No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 tournament next week. Cal wins the tiebreaker over UW by virtue of its 69-66 win at Seattle on Jan. 19.

Lazeric Jones scored 20 points to lead the Bruins (18-13, 11-7), Travis Wear had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Tyler Lamb scored 14 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Combined with Colorado’s loss at Oregon State, UCLA climbed to the No. 5 seed and will play rival USC in Wednesday’s first-round Pac-12 tournament game.

C.J. Wilcox had 22 points off the bench for Washington, Terrence Ross scored 16 and Tony Wroten 14. The rest of the UW team shot 5 for 22.

Elsewhere . . .

   – Oregon State 83, Colorado 69: Ahmad Starks scored all 18 of his points in the second half — including 11 straight — and the Beavers (17-13, 7-11) clinched just their second winning season in 22 years. OSU will be seeded No. 9 and face No. 8 Washington State on Wednesday in the Pac-12 tournament. Colorado (19-11, 11-7) slipped to the No. 6 seed and will face No. 11 Utah on Wednesday.

   – Oregon 94, Utah 48: The Ducks (22-8, 13-5) leaped out to a 34-2 lead and were up 52-14 on the way to their fourth straight win. Devoe Joseph scored 21 points for Oregon, which shot 15 for 31 from the 3-point line and will be seeded No. 3 in the Pac-12 tournament. Utah (6-24, 3-15) dropped to 0-15 in games away from home.

   – Washington State 43, USC 38: The Cougars (15-15, 7-11) gained the No. 8 seed in the Pac-12 tournament with an eye-sore of a victory over the last-place Trojans (6-25, 1-17). Brock Motum scored 27 points for WSU and his teammates combined for 16 more. USC scored fewer than 50 points for the 11th time this season.

Cal needs UCLA to topple Huskies on Saturday in order for the Bears to have a shot at a co-title . . .

   – Washington 80, USC 58: Terrence Ross had 18 points and and Darnell Gant had 14 points and nine rebounds as the Huskies (21-8, 14-3) clinched no worse than a share of the Pac-12 title with a win in Los Angeles. Byron Wesley scored 23 points for the last-place Trojans (6-24, 1-16), who lost their eighth straight game.

   – Oregon 90, Colorado 81: The Ducks (21-8, 12-5) moved into a tie for third place with idle Arizona as senior guards Devoe Joseph and Garrett Sim scored 24 and 19 points, respectively, in Eugene. The Buffaloes (19-10, 11-6) fell into fifth place despite 20 points from senior guard Carlon Brown.

   – UCLA 78, Washington State 46: One day after a blockbuster Sports Illustrated story on the decline of the UCLA program, the Bruins (17-13, 10-7) solidified their hold on sixth place, led by 18 points from senior Lazeric Jones. Brock Motum scored 18 for the Cougars (14-15, 6-11), who lost for the fourth time in five games.

   – Oregon State 77, Utah 67: The Beavers (16-13, 6-11) led by 21 at halftime and held on to move a step closer to just their second winning season since 1990. San Leandro HS product Jared Cunningham had 17 points and six assists for OSU. Dijon Farr scored 16 for the Utes (6-23, 3-14), who are 0-14 away from home.

Elsewhere . . .

   — Former Richmond HS star Wendell McKines had 19 points and 13 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season — the 44th of his career — in New Mexico State’s 65-61 loss at Nevada.

My apologies again for dashing off so quickly after Sunday’s game. I had just enough time to file my story, then drive to the airport to catch a flight. A very tight schedule.

Here are postgame comments from Mike Montgomery:

General—“The one thingColorado does is they will not let you get to the basket. They really load up at the basket. So, what we worked on was to try to get there and find the open guy. I wouldn’t say we were highly successful in that.”

On the outcome—“We didn’t defend very well. They [Colorado] really took advantage of their offensive possessions. They shot it well—we didn’t. They took away some things and it frustrated us a little bit. I think more than anything else though, that our point of attack defense was not very good. We attack time after time, but they were able to get it to another guy who was able to score; that caused us all sorts of problems.”

On Jorge Gutierrez going scoreless—“That definitely causes us a problem, but there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s had a hard time shooting the ball and that’s been getting in his head a little bit. He did have nine rebounds and he did the other things that he does, but he’s very conscience of the fact that the ball’s not going in. If you look statistically, Jorge has one foul. We obviously just weren’t doing a very good job with our perimeter people in terms of defending. They [Colorado] were able to get by us and get into the paint pretty much whenever they needed to.”

On potentially finishing first—“It’s a game. It’sColorado on the road and Stanford on the road. We knew these were two tough games. They deserve to win. They played better than we did. If we can’t play better than that’s what it is. The issue with finishing first, which is always your goal, is still on the horizon. It means we’re going to have to win at Stanford, but we will know more going into the game whetherWashington will lose on the road. It’s still out there for us, but this makes it that much more difficult.”

On overcoming the atmosphere—“Stanford played great, they shot lights out. Then next thing you know you are down 20. From a psychological point there’s always them being `By God we’ve got to play better.’ This is always a hard road trip. We’re coming from a further distance, there’s altitude … and Colorado’s good—don’t make any mistake. They lost one game in league and that was the other night, so they were ready to play. They were gunned up and they fought hard. We just couldn’t capitalize to put any pressure on them.”

FINAL SCORE: Colorado 70, Cal 57. The Bears (23-7, 13-4) fall out of first place, dropping to 13-4 in the Pac-12, 23-7 overall. They now need Washington (20-8, 13-3) to lose either to USC or UCLA next week in Los Angeles to have a chance to gain a share of the title. Crabbe finished with 16 points, Cobbs 15 and Harper Kamp 13, including his first 3-pointer of the season. Gutierrez was held scoreless (0 for 7 FG) for the first time since Jan. 2, 2010. Cal shot just 38 percent and forced Colorado into only five turnovers.

3:41 2nd H: Cobbs hits two FTs and Cal trails 60-53.

7:24 2nd H: CU leads 55-49 and Dufault is going to the line for two FTs. The Bears’ problem right now isn’t their offense — heck, Kamp even made his first 3-pointer of the season a moment ago. Crabbe has 16 points, Kamp 13 and Cobbs 11. Gutierrez still scoreless on 0 for 6. But the Cal defense isn’t doing much to stop the Buffs, who seem to score when they need to.

12:31 2nd H: CU leads 46-35 after drive by Nate Tomlinson. The Bears are struggling to run their offense. The past two possessions they couldn’t get a shot until a desperation heave just before the shot-clock buzzer. CU is confident. Cal is tentative.

16:51 2nd H: Cal scoring a bit better this half, but CU answering each basket. Buffs lead 39-33 after layup by Kamp, who has 10 points, matching Crabbe’s total.

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I skipped Cal’s game Thursday night at Utah to spend part of the day visiting with students and faculty at Abraham Lincoln High School in southwest Denver.

It’s the alma mater of Cal senior guard Jorge Gutierrez, and it’s almost as if he never left.

Most of the 1,900 kids at Lincoln have never met Gutierrez, but it”s obvious he continues to be very much alive on the campus. Lincoln is 97 percent Hispanic, and a large chunk of those students are undocumented arrivals from Mexico.

I visited with two current players on the Lincoln Lancers, along with teachers, coaches and administrators, and Gutierrez’s example continues to inspire them.

The high school purchased 200 tickets for Sunday’s game at Colorado, so Gutierrez will have his own cheering section at the Coors Events Center.

Here’s my story, with photos and video.

TIPOFF: 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colo. TV: CSNBA. Radio: 910-AM. 

Stanford’s 74-50 rout of Colorado on Thursday provided no game plan for the Bears to follow Sunday.

The Cardinal stampeded the Buffaloes with size and depth. Stanford’s length bothered CU near the basket, and its depth made sure that the mile-high elevation was no issue. Throw in an uncharacteristically terrific shooting night by the Cardinal, and it was a rout.

“That’s not indicative. That doesn’t mean anything,” Cal coach Mike Montgomery said Saturday. “Stanford comes out and just lights it up. Are they going to do that every day? If they do, they’re conference champs. They obviously don’t do that.”

Montgomery knows the Buffs — 13-2 at home — will be much tougher Sunday.

And the Bears don’t’ have Stanford’s size or depth, so they will need to win the game on their terms in order to sneak one-half game in front of Washington atop the Pac-12 standings.

Fatigue could be a concern. Cal’s starters are averaging nearly 35 minutes per game over the past three outings, simply because Montgomery cannot afford to go to his bench for long spurts.

“Depth is a little bit of an issue for us. It’s going to catch up to you at some point,” he said. “In key games, we’re playing guys 36 minutes-plus. That can wear on you a little bit.”

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Free throw woes prevent WSU from giving Cal a boost . . .

   – Washington 59, Washington State 55: Down 13 points with 11 minutes left, the Huskies (20-8, 13-3) rallied behind 21 points from freshman Tony Wroten to beat the Cougars (14-14, 6-10) at Pullman, Wash. A WSU win could have given Cal a one-game lead over UW at the top of the Pac-12 standings, but the Cougars shot 6 for 20 from the free throw line in the second half (17 for 32 for the game).

   – Utah 58, Stanford 57: Chris Hines scored 27 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, and the Utes (6-22, 3-13) snapped an eight-game losing streak. Two days after routing Colorado, Stanford (19-10, 9-8) shot 37 percent. Freshman Chasson Randle led the Cardinal with 19 points.

   – Arizona 65, UCLA 63: Arizona (21-9, 12-5) missed four FTs in the final minute but still completed a comeback win at home. Senior guard Jerime Anderson equaled his season high with 20 points for the Bruins (16-13, 9-7), but missed a game-tying jumper before the buzzer. Kyle Fogg had 20 points and Jesse Perry 16 for the Cats.

   — Arizona State 56, USC 52: Chris Colvin completed a three-point play with 19.4 seconds left to lift the Sun Devils (9-20, 5-12) in Tempe, Ariz. Freshman Byron Wesley scored a career-high 22 points for the last-place Trojans (6-23, 1-15), who set a school record for losses in a season.

The Buffaloes now longer are in position to catch the leaders this weekend . . .

   — Stanford 74, Colorado 50: The Cardinal (19-9, 9-7) beat the Buffaloes (18-9, 10-5) by more than 20 points for the second time this season. Stanford got 20 points from freshman guard Chasson Randle, outrebounded the Buffs 50-26 and held them to 21 percent shooting in the first half. CU fell two games behind Cal and Washington the loss column.

   — Arizona 70, USC 54: The Wildcats (20-9, 11-5) got 16 points from Kyle Fogg to move into third place. Freshman Josiah Turner added 15 points. The last-place Trojans (6-22, 1-14) got 18 points from freshman Byron Wesley. 

   – UCLA 66, Arizona State 57: The Bruins (16-12, 9-6) got 20 points from Lazeric Jones to beat the Sun Devils (8-20, 4-12).

Cal’s workmanlike 60-46 win over Utah gives the Bears (23-6, 13-3) a half-game lead on idle Washington atop the Pac-12 standings.

“We have to grind,” Mike Montgomery said afterward. “We have to defend. We have to match other people’s physicality if we can. That’s just the way we have to play.”

Especially when the ball isn’t going down. Cal shot just 40.4 percent, made 2 of 11 from the 3-point line and got only three points from leading scorer Allen Crabbe, who was 0 for 6 from the field.

Cal beat Utah (5-22, 2-13) by 36 points in Berkeley last month, but the Utes have improved and figured out how they want to play. Which is, they want to slow it down, ugly it up. And on those counts, they were successful against the Bears.

But they turned the ball over 17 times, shot just 34.8 percent and could not slow down senior Harper Kamp, who had 17 points,  seven rebounds and five assists.

Cal has won six straight conference games, equaling a stretch it enjoyed two seasons ago while capturing its first league title in 50 years. A win Sunday at Colorado would give the Bears a seven-game conference streak for the first time since 2002-03.

Colorado, meanwhile, played probably its worst game of the season, falling 74-50 to Stanford. The Buffaloes, picked 10th in the league, were hoping a win over Cal could keep alive their chances of winning the Pac-12 title.

Now they are two games behind Cal and Washington in the loss column with just three to play.

The Buffaloes, who had lost just once in 14 previous home games, will play better Sunday. Cal will need to, also. 

TIPOFF: 6 p.m. Thursday at Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. TV: None. Radio: 910-AM.

Don’t expect the Golden Bears to hiccup on Thursday night at Utah. They know what’s at stake and understand the rematch with the Utes in Salt Lake City won’t necessarily be the walk-over they enjoyed in their 81-45 victory at Berkeley.

“Coach Montgomery’s not going to let us overlook anybody — it’s such a close race,” freshman David Kravish said. “Harper and Jorge aren’t going to let us overlook it.”

For seniors Harper Kamp and Jorge Gutierrez, this is a chance to inch closer to a second conference title in three seasons. Cal and Washington are tied for the Pac-12 lead at 12-3, each with three road games remaining.

Although there is no evidence of it in the win columnm, the Utes appear to be making some progress since Cal last time the Bears faced them.

“They played Colorado pretty tough at their place. That shows they’re playing a little better,” point guard Justin Cobbs said of the Utes’ 55-48 loss to Colorado. “All these games are must-win. If we want to win that championship, we can’t look past anything.”

Mike Montgomery seems comfortable his team will be ready.

“They know what their job is. For us, our margin of error is not appreciable,” he said. “We’ve got to have certain people perform, we’ve got to play good defense, or we’re going to have a tough time.”

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