The Blaze

By Josh Green

Greetings and welcome inside Haas Pavilion in Berkeley for Pac-10 Basketball, featuring the Arizona State Sun Devils and the California Golden Bears. This is the final meeting between the two teams for the regular season, with Cal having beat ASU in Tempe.

The Sun Devils (9-12, 1-8) have lost five games in a row and haven’t tasted victory in the Pac-10 since New Year’s Day, when they defeated the Oregon Ducks. The Bears (12-9, 5-4) have won three in a row and are coming off a home sweep of the Oregon schools.

Pregame

-ASU just took the court for warmups. We’re about 35 minutes away from tip-off. I expect it to be a close game, but ultimately I see Cal winning.

-Something to note: Last time these two teams played each other, ASU point guard Jamelle McMillan sat out because of a groin injury. The Sun Devils started Marcus Jackson (walk-on) and Brandon Dunson (transfer). McMillan is in the starting lineup tonight.

-Sparse crowd tonight. Student section is about half full. Most of the upper level of the arena is empty.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups

ASU: Jamelle McMillan, Ty Abbott, Kyle Cain, Trent Lockett and Rihards Kuksiks

Cal: Jorge Gutierrez, Brandon Smith, Markhuri Sanders-Frison, Harper Kamp and Allen Crabbe

First Half

18:59- McMillan makes his presence felt already, drilling two three’s to give ASU an early 6-4 lead.

17:58- Cal is taking advantage of its size down low, with all four its buckets coming in the paint. Herb Sendek calls an early timeout, as the Bears lead 8-4

15:53- First media timeout of the half, and the game is tied at 11. Nine of ASU’s 11 points have come via three, and Jamelle McMillan and Ty Abbott have combined for all 11 points. Cal and ASU are a combined 9-of-10 from the floor.

13:27- Cal is lights out from the floor, shooting 9-of-10. The Bears are on an 11-2 run and lead 22-13.

11:59- We’ve reached the under-12 timeout, and Cal leads 22-15. Sun Devil guard Keala King appears to have hurt to hip, but he walks off the court on his own power. ASU is 6-of-12 from the floor, while Cal is 9-of-12.

7:37- Timeout on the floor, with Cal leading 28-22. The Bears have cooled off a bit, but are still shooting 65% from the floor. Jorge Gutierrez and Markhuri Sanders-Frison have combined for 15 of the 28 points. Ten of ASU’s 19 attempts from the field have come from beyond the arc.

3:40- Cal was up 22-13, but ASU is on a 17-6 run and now leads 30-28 after McMillan hits his third three of the game. McMillan, Lockett and Abbott have combined for 20 of ASU’s 30 points.

0:00- We’ve reached the end of the first half, and Cal leads 38-36. The Sun Devils outscored the Bears 25-16 to get back in the game. Considering how well Cal shot the ball in the first few minutes of the game, ASU should feel great being down by just two.

Jamelle McMillan leads ASU with 9 first half points. The Sun Devils are shooting 50% from the floor, including 43% from three-point range. The Bear are shooting 52% from the floor.

Second Half

17:30- Quick start to the second half, much like the first. Trent Lockett has scored six of ASU’s eight points in the half, helping the Sun Devils take a 44-43 lead.

15:20- First media timeout of the half, and ASU has its biggest lead of the game at 46-43. The Sun Devils have outscored the Bears 10-5 thus far and are playing fantastic defense. I’m sitting next to Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic, and he just pointed out that Cal only has five offensive rebounds. The last time these two teams played, the Bears have 19 offensive rebounds.

11:55- Timeout on the floor, with ASU up 50-46. Lockett and McMillan in double-figures for the Sun Devils. Abbott and Kuksiks are a combined 3-of-13.

9:45- Cal fans are on their feet after the Bears force a shot-clock violation. We’re all tied at 50.

7:20- There’s a saying that goes, “You live by the three and die by the three.” ASU is living by the three tonight. Three consecutive bombs from beyond the arc by Kuksiks, McMillan and Abbott, and the Sun Devils have their biggest lead of the game at seven, 59-52.

4:56- Ty Abbott has committed two costly fouls on Cal’s last two possessions, resulting in five Bears free throws, the last of which is converted into a three-pointer after the Bears get the offensive rebound. A 7-0 Cal lead has them up 61-60.

3:22- Final media timeout of the half, and Cal is still up 61-60. ASU hasn’t scored in over two minutes.

1:10- Kuksiks misses a three that would have given ASU the lead. Instead, Cal has the ball and leads 63-62.

0:59- ASU catches a break, as Cal turns the ball over. It will be Sun Devil basketball after the timout. ASU hasn’t scored a field goal since the 7:25 mark.

0:13- Allen Crabbe hits what is likely a dagger three-pointer as the shot clock expires to give Cal a 66-62 lead. He was just 1-of-9 before that three.

0:00- Cal holds on to beat ASU 66-62. The Sun Devils fall to 9-13 overall and 1-9 in the Pac-10. They will be in Palo Alto on Saturday to face Stanford. Look for a recap and video later this evening and tomorrow morning.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 at 8:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.