TUCSON, Ariz. -- California put up a battle at No. 9 Arizona Saturday, but the Wildcats prevailed, 70-61, to clinch the 2000 Pac-10 title.

The Bears (16-14, 7-10) now must await word from the NIT as to whether they will get a chance to defend their title in the postseason tournament. NIT bids will be announced late Sunday, likely after 7:30 p.m. PT. Arizona (26-6, 15-3) receives the Pac-10's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

In Saturday's contest, Cal held Arizona to just one field goal over the first 7:30 of the game. However, the Bears were unable to get their offense in gear either. With the Bears up, 6-3, Arizona went on a 12-0 run to take a 15-6 advantage. The Wildcats' lead to grew to as many as 14 points at 35-21 before Cal closed to 35-24 at the break.

In the second half, Cal relied on the outside shooting and hustle of sophomore forward Ryan Forehan-Kelly to stay in the game. Forehan-Kelly, who finished with a career-high 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals, made 6-of-8 three-pointers during the afternoon, just missing the school record of seven held by Jason Kidd and Ryan Drew.

A steal and dunk by Forehan-Kelly made it 44-40 midway through the period. Arizona, though, extended its lead to nine points. Cal got within six points on several other occasions, but the Wildcats had an answer every time.

Arizona made 32 of 41 attempts from the free throw line, compared to Cal's 2-of-8 effort from the stripe.

Gilbert Arenas paced Arizona with 22 points, while Michael Wright added 15 points and Jason Gardner 13.

For Cal, Sean Lampley finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Shantay Legans poured in 12 points as well. Nick Vander Laan grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the Bears.

"We played hard tonight, so that's something to be proud of," said Cal head coach Ben Braun. "But it was a frustrating loss. To see Arizona go to the line 41 times is tough, especially when they were short-handed today. We wanted to keep them on the perimeter, but couldn't get it done. Arenas did what he does so well, which is keep them in there when the lead dropped a little bit. We can't afford to rush against teams like Arizona. They started to back off because of foul trouble and we didn't make it happen for ourselves. It happened because we have young guys who rushed themselves tonight.

"Ryan Forehan-Kelly had a 102-degree temperature before the game today," Braun added. "Then in the game, he took over and led us. We have to get good offense from him if we're going to be successful. He led us in scoring, he was second on the team in rebounds and played a ton of minutes. It was a great game for him."