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After playing tough for the first 30 minutes of the game, the Cal Bears went ice-cold with the game on the line Thursday night against Arizona to take their first home loss of the season, 68-58. 

The crowd at Haas Pavilion was rocking for the first half, during which an 18-2 Cal run gave the Bears a five-point lead. But the crowd went dead silent after a Ryan Forehan-Kelly jumper tied the game, 49-49, with 11 minutes left. Cal got just one field goal the rest of the way, a 3-pointer by Amit Tamir, as the Wildcats (14-6, 7-3 Pac-10) pulled away with a 17-3 run that lasted nine minutes. 

“They stepped up their defense, but we started rushing our shots,” Cal swingman Brian Wethers said of the Bears’ cold streak, which included seven turnovers. 

Arizona point guard Jason Gardner led the Wildcats in the second half with 15 points after scoring just two points in the first half. Arizona’s leading scorer at 21.3 points per game, Gardner hurt the Bears (14-5, 5-4) with his penetration and durability, getting to the free throw line 13 times and playing all but one minute of the game. 

“That’s not unusual for Jason,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “He’s had other games when his first half wasn’t so good, but when it gets to crunch time he’ll step up.” 

Arizona also got a typically productive all-around night from sophomore Luke Walton, who had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Forward Rick Anderson pitched in with 16 points and 13 rebounds. 

The Arizona big men were helped by foul trouble for the entire Cal front line. Starters Solomon Hughes and Jamal Sampson combined to play just 18 minutes, contributing just 2 points and 1 rebound between them. Sampson was also the team’s latest victim of a flu bug, which has affected about half of the Cal players as well as head coach Ben Braun.  

Arizona was clearly the aggressor in the game, getting a 31-12 advantage in trips to the free throw line. Although the Wildcats made just 16 of their free throws, the Bears were clearly not aggressive on offense. 

“We can’t be successful getting to the foul line 8 times, 10 times, 12 times,” Braun said. “We’re at our best when we’re testing teams inside, and we didn’t do that.” 

With Hughes and Sampson on the bench for most of the game, the grunt work was left to 6-foot-10 freshman Amit Tamir. Tamir scored 10 points but had just 6 rebounds as the Wildcats claimed a 37-29 edge on the boards. 

The absence of the Cal shot-blockers also contributed to Arizona’s 54.8 shooting percentage, the second-highest the Bears have surrendered this season. Walton really took advantage, backing down smaller Cal defenders for short leaners in the post. 

“(Cal) has been effective down there challenging shots and making it tough to score,” Olson said. “We spread the floor and attacked them early, and they got in foul trouble.”