BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team hauled in its fifth win at Haas Pavilion behind another 90-point outing as the Golden Bears topped visiting Sacramento State 91-67 tonight. Led by
Chris Bell's 21 points, Cal had four Bears in double digits for the fourth time this season in improving to 5-1 overall. Sacramento State is now 3-4.
Cal crafted a 22-2 rally to work out ahead of the Hornets in the first half and stay the course to a 47-33 halftime advantage. The Bears were shooting 48.6 percent from the floor to lead Sacramento State's 35.5 percent, and Cal had landed nine 3-pointers in those first 20 minutes to help craft that lead. The rebounding margin was tighter, with the Hornets ahead 19-18. The Bears bumped up its efforts in the second half to finish out at 50.8 percent overall while they went and landed a season-high 15 threes on the night. The Hornets still held the edge on the boards 43-42, but shot just 26.9 percent overall from the floor.
Chris Bell's game-high 21 points went along with 16 apiece from
Dai Dai Ames and
Justin Pippen and 14 from
John Camden, who hit four 3-pointers for the Bears. Milos Ilic led on the boards with a season-high nine rebounds for Cal. Cal senior
Rytis Petraitis also made his mark in scoring his 1,000th career point tonight. Sacramento State was led by Brandon Gardner's 19 points, while Mark Lavrenov scored 14 and Prophet Johnson added 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds for a Hornet double-double.
Dai Dai Ames opened Cal's account with an early 3-pointer, although the Hornets would later strike off on a 7-0 surge to lead things 9-5 at 16:15. A technical foul by Sacramento State opened the door for Cal, which saw
Chris Bell hit both free-throws and then
John Camden drain a three to tug the Bears back on top. The rally continued for the hosts, who expanded the run to 17 straight points thanks in part to back-to-back threes from Bell and
Justin Pippen and a pair of Bell dunks to craft a for a 25-12 advantage at 11:30.
Rytis Petraitis got in on the scoring action soon after, tallying his 1,000th career point with a layup and then adding to it with a 3-pointer that put Cal ahead 33-16 at 8:20. The teams fell largely in stride the remainder of the half, and the Bears were holding a 47-33 halftime advantage.
Camden and Dort shouldered the scoring load early, with Dort on dunk duty while Camden drained threes to net a 58-35 lead three minutes into the second half. The Bears manufactured a 10-0 run a little later to build a 30-point lead at 13:45. Milos Ilic became the eighth Bear to score with a tough score in the paint to make it 78-47 Cal just across the 10-minute mark, and the Bears stayed the course to another decisive nonconference home win.
NEXT:Â Cal will close out the Empire Classic with a trip across the bay to Chase Center, where the Bears will face UCLA at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 25) in San Francisco.
NOTABLE:
- On his first basket of the game,
Rytis Petraitis scored his 1,000th career point.
- With a game-high 21 points,
Chris Bell scored in double digits for the fifth straight game and registered his second 20-point game as a Bear.
- Bell,
Justin Pippen (16 points),
Dai Dai Ames (16) and
John Camden (14) hit double digits for the fifth time this season.
- Pippen's 16 points tonight set his new career high.
- Milos Ilic pulled in a season-high nine rebounds.
- Cal's 15 threes made matched its season high and was one off of the program record last hit in 2022-23.Â
- Cal matched its season high of nine Bears scoring in a game.
- Cal's 50.8 percent shooting effort was its fourth 50+ game of the season.
- This was the third time this season that Cal has scored 90+ points in a game (93 vs. Cal State Fullerton, 96 at Kansas State and 91 tonight vs. Sacramento State).
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