Nov. 24, 2007
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -Forward Ryan Anderson scored 23 points and California overcame a slow start to beat San Diego State 77-69 Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
The Golden Bears asserted themselves with 10:08 in the game with a Jerome Randle three-pointer from the corner to give the Bears their first lead of the game, 60-58. After that, they never trailed.
The game turned in Cal's favor with two Patrick Christopher buckets: the first an electrifying alley-oop followed by a runner in the lane.
After the lackluster start the Bears finally caught up to the Aztecs' lung-burning style of play to run their record to 3-0, while San Diego State dropped to 5-1.
The game stalled for several minutes at 66 all, before Cal countered the Aztec's speed with a slowed-down half-court offense.
Center DeVon Hardin broke the tie with his first basket of the game with 2:58 left. Although he finished with just five points, Hardin did manage to grab 14 boards, including a few crucial rebounds in the closing seconds.
The cat-quick Randle, in his first game back following an Oct. 29 kidney biopsy, didn't start but got in fast and scored a career high 21 points in his first game of the season. With Randle, the Bears could get the ball up the floor, but they had trouble from there.
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In fact, if not for 6-foot, 10-inch Anderson, who had 17 of Cal's 33 first-half points, they would have been blown out by intermission.
The game did reunite former Newark Memorial High teammates Hardin and Kyle Spain.
