The California Golden Bears are going to have to play catch-up and hope the Washington Huskies stumble in the Pac-12 race if they plan on being conference champions once again. Beating up on hapless squads like Arizona State could go a long way to helping their cause.

Cal took an early double digit lead against the Sun Devils and were never seriously threatened in a 68-47 victory. The Bears scored the first 11 points and led by double digits nearly wire-to-wire. Allen Crabbe led Cal with 19 points before injuring his ankle (not believed to be serious), and Jorge Guteirrez chipped in 10, Justin Cobbs eight. The Bears led the Sun Devils by 30+ points for good portions of the second half.

Cal improved to 8-3 in the Pac-12 and 18-6 overall, trailing Washington by only a half-game in the conference standings.

To discuss Cal basketball, head on over to the California Golden Blogs. To check out more on ASU basketball, go to House of Sparky.