No. 3 Arizona 87, California 59: Nick Johnson had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Wildcats avenged an earlier loss to the visiting Golden Bears.
Kaleb Tarczewski added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting while T.J. McConnell had 13 points and six assists for Arizona (26-2, 13-2 Pac-12), which shot 50.8 percent and extended its home winning streak to 20 games. Aaron Gordon chipped in 13 points and four rebounds for the Wildcats, who can clinch at least a share of the conference title and secure the Pac-12 tournament’s No. 1 seed with a win over Stanford on Sunday.
Justin Cobbs, who hit the game-winning shot when California defeated Arizona 60-58 on Feb. 1, had 12 points to lead the Golden Bears (18-10, 9-6). Richard Solomon collected nine points and seven rebounds for California, which missed 12 of its 16 shots from 3-point range and lost for the second time in its last three games.
Arizona used a 26-9 run midway through the first half to pull ahead 44-29 at the break, but the Golden Bears scored 11 consecutive points to cut the deficit to 53-44 with just over 13 minutes remaining. The Wildcats soon responded with eight unanswered points and cruised to their third straight win following a loss at Arizona State on Feb. 14.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson collected 12 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona, which turned in its second dominant effort after routing Colorado 88-61 on Saturday. Johnson, who was held to a season-low four points against California last month, has scored 42 points on 15-of-29 shooting over his last two games after shooting 27.1 percent from the field in his previous five contests.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cobbs received a technical foul for arguing a non-goaltending call with 7:14 remaining and Arizona leading 70-52. … Arizona improved to 73-11 at the McKale Center under coach Sean Miller. .. California G Jordan Mathews exited the game with 1:22 to play after falling to the floor with a left ankle injury.
California | Arizona | |
Justin Cobbs 12 | Scoring | Nick Johnson 22 |
Justin Cobbs 2 | Assists | T.J. McConnell 6 |
David Kravish 7 | Rebounds | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 10 |
Richard Solomon 3 | Free Throws Made | Nick Johnson 6 |
Sam Singer 2 | Steals | T.J. McConnell 3 |
David Kravish 4 | Blocks | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
California | 59 | 43.6 | 4-16 | 7-15 | 10 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
Arizona | 87 | 50.8 | 6-16 | 17-22 | 18 | 38 | 4 | 5 | 9 |