No. 4 Arizona Basketball picks up first Pac-12 win against Cal

TUCSON, AZ – Returning to McKale Center to take on winless Cal, No. 4 Arizona Basketball (7-1, 1-1) picked up its first Pac-12 win by beating Cal 81-68.

Returning to action after their disappointing loss to Utah, No. 4 Arizona Basketball returned home to McKale Center to take on a winless Cal team.

Coming in, Cal had been struggling. The Golden Bears had lost all eight of their previous games and to be honest, they looked to be about the worst team in college basketball.

Well on Sunday afternoon, the Golden Bears hung tough. Despite Arizona shooting just 49.2 percent from the field (20.0 percent from three), the Wildcats escaped with the 81-68 win.

Former Gonzaga big man Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis were the bright spots offensively for the Cats, as both finished with 25 points and 17 points on a combined 16-28 shooting from the field.

No. 4 Arizona Basketball gained the lead early and didn’t seemingly look back, despite Cal hanging tough for most of the game.

After getting bullied by Utah on Thursday evening, No. 4 Arizona Basketball had a small return to normalcy as they returned to action against Cal on Sunday afternoon.

Starting a bit faster in this one, the Wildcats jumped out to the early, 26-12 lead with 10:10 to play after Adama Bal connected on a floater inside the paint.

Unfortunately, Cal would show a bit of resiliency in this one, climbing back in and remaining competitive for much of the first half.

Despite Arizona jumping ahead by as many as 14, the Golden Bears would close out the half by outscoring the Wildcats 21-16 to cut Arizona’s lead to just nine points at halftime.

Hoping for a better offensive output in the second half, Arizona’s shooting woes would continue as the team couldn’t buy a bucket from outside the arc.

Luckily, Arizona’s skill and talent were ultimately too much for Cal, as for every Golden Bears run, the Wildcats would respond.

Cal would Arizona’s lead to as little as seven with 10:51 to play, but the Wildcats held strong, closing out the game by outscoring the Golden Bears 22-16 to come away with the comfortable, 81-68 win.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 7-1 (1-1) on the season and will resume basketball action on Saturday when they take on No. 10 Indiana at the MGM Grand as part of the Las Vegas Clash. Tip-off for Saturday’s game is set for 5:30 PM MST.

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