BearTalk

TIPOFF: Cal (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12) at Arizona (13-8, 2-7) , Thursday, 6 p.m.  TV: None.

GAME THEME: The Golden Bears try to stay in a tie for second place with Arizona State, whom they visit on Saturday. Cal is coming off a 74-71 overtime loss at Stanford, its first loss after six straight wins. The last-place Wildcats have dropped four in a row, six of seven.

NOTES: Cal has four losses this season to top-25 teams by a combined nine points . . . Freshman PG Brittany Boyd, coming off 19 points vs. Stanford, has 28 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and seven steals past two games . . . Layshia Clarendon has averaged 15.2 ppg over her past four road games . . . Despite being outrebounded 51-47 at Stanford, Cal stil No. 2 nationally in rebound margin at plus-15.1 . . . Arizona is first in Pac-12 in 3-point accuracy at .351, Cal 11th at .283 . . . Bears also last in conference in FT pct at .613.

NEXT TIME: Cal at Arizona State, Saturday, Feb. 4, 1 p.m.

Freshman Brittany Boyd scored 19 points, but Cal’s women fell 74-71 in overtime at No. 4 Stanford on Saturday. The Bears scored the final nine points of regulation to force overtime, then missed eight of their nine shots in the extra period.

Layshia Clarendon scored 17 points and became the 22nd Cal women’s player to top 1,000 for her career. The Bears (15-6, 6-3) had their six-game win streak snapped.

Sophomore Chiney Ogwumike had career-high totals of 27 points and 18 rebounds for the Cardinal (18-1, 9-0), which won its 66th straight game against Pac-12 competition and its 74th straight game at Maples Pavilion.

Elsewhere . . .

   – RUGBY: Cal routed Stanford 109-0, improving to 6-0 on the season. The Bears have outscored their opponents 461-13. And they wanted to demote these guys to a club team?

   – SENIOR BOWL: Former Cal wideout Marvin Jones caught just one pass in the Senior Bowl at Mobile, Ala., but he made it count for an eight-yard touchdown. Jones and the North squad posted a 23-13 victory.

FINAL SCORE: Texas 21, Cal 10. The Bears finish 7-6 after a 4-4 start. Texas, which had dropped three of its previous four games, winds up 8-5. There were lots of telling statistics in the game, but none moreso than the 5-0 turnover margin. Cal had coughed up just two turnovers in its previous four games.

The Bears finished with 195 total yards, their season low. The running game, which opened things up nicely for Maynard in recent weeks, netted seven yards (thanks partly to six sacks). Sofele, who averaged 143 yards the previous four games, had 20 carries for 52 yards.

Wideouts Allen (9 catches for 82 yards) and Jones (8-88) accounted for 170 of the Bears’ 195 yards. Jones finished his career with a catch in 38 consecutive games. Maynard was 19 for 33 for 188 yards, with three turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 INT). But he was harassed all night.

14:57 4th Q: Cody Johnson, a 5-foot-11, 252-pound running back, powered in from the 4 on the first play of the quarter and Texas leads 21-10. Four turnovers may be too much to overcome.

END OF THIRD QTR: The Bears just squandered a great chance. They forced a Texas punt from the end zone and took possession at the 27 after a 16-yard return by Marvin Jones. But Anthony Miller was flagged for a personal foul on a second-down play, pushing the ball back to the 44, and Maynard fumbled after being sacked. Goodwin raced 37 yards to the 7 and Cody Johnson powered to the 4 before the quarter ended. Texas leads 14-10.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s my story from this morning’s edition on how Cal junior running back Isi Sofele feels a responsibility to help carry the Bears against a stout Texas defense.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, here are Five Things to Watch in the Holiday Bowl.

Elsewhere . . .

– The Pac-12 and Big Ten are moving to strengthen their historic alliance, including plans for annual preseason matchups of every team from both conferences in games that would be played at the Rose Bowl, or perhaps Soldier Field, Wrigley Field or even Yankee Stadium. Here is the Pac-12′s news release.

– And here’s a real surprise: Oregon unveils new Nike uniforms for its Rose Bowl matchup vs. Wisconsin. It’s called the Nike Pro Combat system of dress technology. Are they cool or have you had enough of the Ducks’ marketing excess?

FINAL SCORE: San Diego State 64, Cal 63. Tapley made two FTs with 8.6 seconds left and finished with 25 points. Crabbe hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to finish at 23. Cobbs had 17 points and five assists. Crabbe also had nine rebounds. A tough game for Gutierrez, who scored six points — his first non-double-figure game of the season — on 3 for 12. Kamp had six points and seven rebounds. Kravish eight points and six rebounds. Cal is 6-2 heading home to play San Jose State on Wednesday. SDSU is 8-2 and 3-0 vs. the Pac-12, with wins over Arizona, USC and Cal.

0:09.2 2nd H: Cobbs scores quickly on drive to the basket. Cal calls timeout, down 62-60. Bears’ original starting lineup — with four guards — will be on the floor.

0:15.5 2nd H: Cal got within 60-58 when Kamp tipped in miss by Gutierrez. Bears played good defense, then allowed Aztecs to corral long offensive rebound. Franklin made two FTs and the lead is 62-58.

1:06 2nd H: Kravish fouls out. SDSU leads 58-56. Franklin shooting two: a make and a make. It’s 60-56 SDSU. Cal calls timeout. Crabbe has 18 points, Cobbs has 15. Tapley has 23 for the Aztecs. And joint is jumping. Student section going NUTS.

Read the rest of this entry »

If the No. 20 Golden Bears (3-0) get past Georgia (3-0) they will have their hands full Tuesday night in the championship game of the CBE Classic at Kansas City.

No. 21 Missouri (4-0) enjoyed home cooking at the Sprint Center to rout Notre Dame (4-1) by an 87-58 margin. And the game was no closer than the final score.

Mizzou, athletic and super quick, shot 65.5 percent in the first half to lead 52-37 and finished the game at 58.2 percent. Guard Marcus Denmon led four players in double digits with 26 points. Tim Abromaitis topped the Irish with 22. 

• Cal’s offense was the primary culprit in Saturday’s loss.
• LB Mychal Kendricks was limited.

The biggest news postgame is coach Jeff Tedford’s comments that he will evaluate the quarterback position, leaving the door open for him to switch to sophomore Allan Bridgford.

“We’ll see,” Tedford said. “We’ll look at the tape and make a determination with that.”

Tedford also revealed that linebacker Mychal Kendricks was suspended for the first quarter for violating team rules. Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said that Kendricks had thumb surgery last week and his reps were limited in practice.

Other notes:

• Zach Maynard threw for 199 yards, the first time this season he has failed to reach the 200-yard mark.
• Marvin Jones was held to just one catch for 11 yards.
• UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince became the first Bruins quarterback to rush for 100 yards since 1976.
• UCLA safety Tevin McDonald became just the fourth freshman in conference history to record three interceptions in a game.
• Cal WR Keenan Allen had seven catches for 83 yards.
• D.J. Campbell led the Bears with 11 tackles.

First downs: Cal 10, UCLA 15.

Total offense: Cal 214, UCLA 242

Rushing: Sofele 14-68, 1 TD; Prince 14-88

Passing: Maynard 8-16-1 98; Prince 8-17-0 77.

Receiving: Allen 4-61, Rosario 5-56.

Tackles: Campbell 9, McKay 5.

They are both starting the second half.