The California Golden Bears had a great opportunity to notch a respectable non-conference win for the Pac-12. All hopes of victory were erased early. The UNLV Runnin' Rebels raced out to a 46 point first half (the most Cal has given up in the first half all year), and led by double digits for the entire second half, cruising to a 17 point victory.
UNLV's athleticism and veteran leadership overwhelmed the Bears as they got solid performances from Mike Moser (14 points, eight rebounds), Oscar Bellfield (11 points, 11 assists), Chace Stanback (15 points) and Anthony Marshall (22 points, nine rebounds). The Rebels look like a serious tournament contender; expect them to make some noise in March.
Cal saw their two top scorers struggle to find the range. Allen Crabbe (flu) and Jorge Gutierrez (recovering from food poisoning) shot a combined 7 of 27 from the field and finished with 25 points overall. Cal guard Justin Cobbs continued his hot scoring and provided the main scoring punch, finishing with 20 points and five assists. Cal bigs Harper Kamp (12 points, nine rebounds) and David Kravish (eight points, seven boards) had solid performances in support.
Cal now gets ready for Pac-12 play, finishing out-of-conference with a 10-3 record.
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