Grant Anticevich sparked a second-half surge and finished with 14 points as the shorthanded California Golden Bears overcame a double-digit deficit for a 72-63 win at Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.
Anticevich scored 10 points during a decisive 14-4 Cal run in the second half, helping his team win a road game for the first time this season despite the absence of injured leading scorer Matt Bradley.
Anticevich hit 6 of 10 shots, including back-to-back 3s during the pivotal second-half surge, to reach double figures for just the fourth time this season.
Makale Foreman scored 12 points, while Jarred Hyder and Andre Kelly each chipped in 11 points to help Cal (7-8, 2-6 Pac-12) overcome a 15-point deficit.
Utah's Timmy Allen led all scorers with 26 points, but only one other Utes player reached double figures -- Pelle Larsson with 12 points. This was the third time in four games in which Utah lost after being ahead by 10 or more at halftime.
Larsson got the Utes (5-6, 2-5) off to a nice start with consecutive layups before Cal finally scored three minutes into the contest.
Allen and Alfonso Plummer both heated up after that, leading the Utes to a 15-point lead before settling on a 34-22 halftime lead.
Allen scored 12 points in the opening half and made a terrific long pass to Plummer that led to a buzzer-beating layup heading into the locker room. Plummer went into the break with the only eight points he'd score.
Bradley, a preseason first-team All-Pac-12 player and Cal's leading scorer, attended but didn't play for the fourth game in a row due to an ankle injury.
The Golden Bears opened the second half with a 7-0 run to close to within 34-29. Later, Anticevich sparked the 14-4 run that put Cal in the driver's seat.
--Field Level Media
California | Utah | |
Grant Anticevich 14 | Scoring | Timmy Allen 26 |
Joel Brown 5 | Assists | Timmy Allen 5 |
Andre Kelly 9 | Rebounds | Timmy Allen 6 |
Makale Foreman 4 | Free Throws Made | Timmy Allen 8 |
Joel Brown 3 | Steals | Timmy Allen 2 |
Ryan Betley 1 | Blocks | Timmy Allen 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
California | 72 | 47.2 | 8-24 | 14-19 | 12 | 27 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
Utah | 63 | 41.2 | 6-23 | 15-16 | 16 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 17 |