Dec. 18, 1999
Box Score
Junior forward Sean Lampley posted his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds as California cruised to an 88-61 victory over UC Irvine Saturday night in front of 10,316 fans at Haas Pavilion. With Cal's 27-point victory, its biggest of the season, the Bears improved to 6-2, while UC Irvine fell to 4-3.
Redshirt freshman guard Donte Smith posted a career-high 16 points and freshman forward Joe Shipp added 13 points for the Bears. Sophomore guards Zamiro Bennem and Jerry Green led UC Irvine with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Junior guard Sean Jackson, who played his first two seasons for Cal before transferring, added 10 points.
Cal opened the second half with a 12-0 run to turn a 40-30 halftime lead into a 52-30 advantage and a runaway victory. UCI halted Cal's run with a free throw by Bennem 4:38 into the second stanza. The Anteaters only field goal in the first eight minutes was a three-pointer by Green at the 14:12 mark. The Bears biggest lead of the game was 33 at 81-48 with 3:20 to play.
With the Bears trailing 18-17, Cal went on an 11-0 run behind nine points from Shipp to grab a 28-18 advantage with 7:55 to play in the first half. After the Anteaters cut the Bears lead to five at 28-23, Cal rallied with a 12-7 run to lead by 10 at the half.
Cal next plays Gonzaga in the Pete Newell Challenge Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 8:30 p.m. at the New Arena in Oakland.
California vs. UC Irvine Post-Game Quotes
California head coach Ben Braun ~
General Comments:
"You've got to give credit to your opponents after a game like this. They did a great job scouting us. I thought we made some good adjustments, but they forced us to make those adjustments. We're going to be pretty good if we can keep teams down in the second half. It took our best effort to keep Irvine down in the second half tonight, no doubt about it."
On Cal in the post:
"We have to establish a post game, and as Nick Vander Laan showed us tonight, you have to be able to pass out of the post and get a second look."
On the defense in the first half:
"I think we were feeling better about our defense halfway through the first half. I thought Solomon Hughes showed some good inside presence for us tonight."
On the second half:
"I was really pleased with our defensive effort. We thought we were a lot better with our ball movement in the second half."
UC Irvine head coach Pat Douglass ~
On Marek Ondera's foul trouble:
"He's our only senior and he's one of our better offensive players, especially inside, so it really hampered us inside as far as being productive the last 10 minutes of the first half."
General Comments:
"? thought we came out shooting pretty good in the first 10 minutes of the first half. When you're on the road, no one wants to be timid, and we weren't so I was pleased about that."
