Jan. 19, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Ayinde Ubaka scored 24 points and Leon Powe added 20 points and 10 rebounds to help California beat Arizona State 88-58 on Thursday night.
The Bears (10-5 overall, 4-2 Pac-10) finished the game with a 24-2 run to snap a two-game Pac-10 slide.
Kevin Kruger scored 18 for the Sun Devils (7-9, 1-6). Freshman Sylvester Seay added a season-best 13 points. The 30-point loss tied for the worst home defeat in coach Rob Evans' eight seasons at Arizona State.
California dominated the game at the free throw line, sinking 31-of-38 compared with 13-of-19 for the Sun Devils. The Bears had not made that many free throws in a game since Feb. 22, 1997.
Powe made 12-of-15 free throws and Ubaka was 8-of-12 from the field, 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Kruger was 8-of-10 at the line, but missed two that would have cut the lead with 7:35 to play.
Theo Robertson was the only other Cal player in double figures with 10 points.
The Bears took the lead for good with an 8-2 spurt over the last two minutes of the first half to go up 36-30 at the break, then started the second half with a 16-2 run that put Cal ahead 50-32 on Ubaka's 3-pointer with 17:05 left.
Arizona State, coming off its first Pac-10 victory of the season, used a 12-3 run to cut the lead to 53-44 on Antwi Atuahene's driving layup 7:35 to play.
With the Sun Devils trailing 62-53, Kruger was fouled shooting a 3-pointer. But he missed two of the three free throws and it was 62-54. Bruno Claudino's inside basket with 6:21 left cut the lead to 64-56.
DeVon Hardin's three-point play started the final outburst that turned the game into a blowout.
The Sun Devils scored the first nine points of the game and were up 16-5 on Seay's 3-pointer with 13:40 left in the first half. The Bears caught them 19-18 on Ubaka's 3-pointer with 8:56 left in the half.