Jabari Walker's 19 points and 15 rebounds helped Colorado rally from a seven-point halftime deficit to post a 70-62 win Thursday night over California in Berkeley, Calif.
Walker controlled the lane in the second half with 13 points and 11 boards on his way to his fifth straight double-double as the Buffs (17-9, 9-7 Pac-12) improved to 2-0 on their three-game road trip. K.J. Simpson added 19 points off the bench, while Evan Battey chipped in 18.
Grant Anticevich and Jalen Celestine each scored 11 points for the Golden Bears (11-16, 4-12), who were denied a third consecutive win. Kuany Kuany added 10 in a reserve role, but leading scorer Jordan Shepherd was held to seven points after pouring in a career-high 33 Saturday night in a 78-64 upset win at Oregon.
Cal went ice-cold in the second half, making just 8 of 32 shots from the field. It connected on a pitiful 3 of 20 attempts inside the 3-point arc and was outrebounded 43-28 for the game, including a whopping 29-11 after halftime.
Down 35-28 at halftime, Colorado overwhelmed the Golden Bears in the first 13-plus minutes of the second half. It took the lead for good when Battey drilled a 3-pointer with 16:14 remaining for a 39-36 advantage and simply kept adding on to it.
When Walker canned two foul shots with 6:44 left, it capped a 30-8 Buffs' run to open the half and gave them an insurmountable 58-43 advantage. Cal never got closer than the final margin.
The game was played on even terms for the first 7 1/2 minutes. Walker's layup supplied a 14-13 edge for Colorado, but the Golden Bears rattled off 10 straight points, holding the Buffs scoreless for a 5:20 stretch.
Anticevich hit a jumper at the 3:37 mark to give Cal its biggest lead of the game at 33-22, but Colorado was able to work its way a bit closer during the half's remainder. Tristan Da Silva connected on two free throws to bring it within seven at the break.
--Field Level Media
Colorado | California | |
KJ Simpson 19 | Scoring | Grant Anticevich 11 |
Keeshawn Barthelemy 3 | Assists | Joel Brown 3 |
Jabari Walker 15 | Rebounds | Kuany Kuany 6 |
KJ Simpson 8 | Free Throws Made | Kuany Kuany 3 |
Jabari Walker 1 | Steals | Makale Foreman 4 |
Nique Clifford 2 | Blocks | Kuany Kuany 6 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Colorado | 70 | 43.1 | 5-12 | 21-24 | 9 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
California | 62 | 37.7 | 10-25 | 6-9 | 12 | 24 | 10 | 6 | 7 |