 played without sophomore guard Rawle Alkins, held out as a precaution with what the school said was mild right foot soreness. Justice Sueing scored 19 points to lead Cal (7-12, 1-5) but missed all six of his 3-point attempts for the cold-shooting Golden Bears, held to 35.3 percent and outrebounded 36-22. Don Coleman had 11 points but shot just 3 of 13. Ayton made 9 of 11 shots and Arizona shot 62 percent, going 11 for 19 from deep. Arizona connected on six straight 3-pointers from the 9:20 mark until 2:32 left before halftime to take control, three by Parker Jackson-Cartwright, then seven in all spanning halftime. Cal got within single digits, down by nine, for all of 17 seconds in the second half. The Wildcats went four possessions until getting their first shot off while committing three quick turnovers and falling behind 6-0. They had turnovers on six of their initial nine possessions and 21 overall but still wound up shooting 70 percent in the opening half. Arizona won its fourth straight in the series. BIG PICTUREArizona: The Pac-12's top team from the free throw line, the Wildcats followed up a 34-of-37 showing at the line against Oregon last Saturday - the program's first time at 90 percent or higher with at least 35 attempts since going 38 of 40 (.950) vs. Washington on Jan. 27, 2005, a span of 454 games - by shooting just 13 free throws and making six. Arizona came in shooting 85.3 percent at the line. ... The Wildcats are 18-11 in Pac-12 road games played in the state of California under Sean Miller since 2009. Miller also is 12-4 vs. Cal. Cal: Kingsley Okoroh, a 7-foot-1 center, scored 10 points to post his first game in double figures scoring since Nov. 16 against Wofford. ... Cal has beaten ranked Arizona teams 11 times, including No. 1 four years ago at Haas Pavilion. While the Bears averaged 54.5 points over their recent road trip to Washington and Washington State last weekend, they hurt their chances with a 1-for-13 shooting performance from 3-point range but made 21 of 30 free throws. UP NEXTArizona: At Stanford on Saturday afternoon. Cal: Hosts Arizona State on Saturday night.---More college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Time: 9:00 PM EST For the last couple of weeks -- maybe for the rest of the season -- Arizona coach Sean Miller will say "this is an important week" given what is at stake for the Wildcats, now that they sit in a tie with Stanford atop the Pac-12 Conference standings. And, as it has slowly has crept up in the rankings. No. 14 Arizona (14-4, 4-1 in Pac-12) faces host California (7-11, 1-4) on Wednesday in Berkeley, Calif., in Haas Pavilion. It faces Stanford on Saturday, meaning there will be an extra day of preparation for Saturday. It's out of the norm for Arizona." We need to make that an advantage and not a disadvantage," said Miller, who added the last two weekend games saw a quick Thursday-Saturday turnaround with a noon-game on Saturday. "We have to use (that time) to our advantage..." Part of the reason it's big is because we're trying to accomplish significant things. Sweeping on the road is not an easy thing to do." Arizona failed to do so in its first conference road trip two weeks ago, falling to Colorado after winning nine consecutive games. What that loss showed is there is still a lot to improve on for Arizona with defense still being the No. 1 issue." (It has) a lot of room for growth," Miller said. He added: "We're a much better offensive team than defensive team." It's something that had Miller almost self-reflecting on his team at the midway point of the season. UA entered the season as the No. 2 team in the country, only to lose three straight in the Bahamas in November. It won nine consecutive, then lost, and then beat the Oregon schools last week." I think a lot of questions remain (about) where do we go from here?" Miller said. If Miller has questions, California coach Wyking Jones, in his first season, has lots of questions about his team and his opponents. California, undersized yet athletic, must deal with the duo 7-footers Arizona has in freshman Deandre Ayton and senior Dusan Ristic, who combine for 31 points and 18 rebounds a game." We have to make them play in crowds," said Jones. "Guarding them one on one is going to be tough." Specific to Ayton, a 7-1 phenom, who leads the Pac-12 in a number of categories (field goals made, 143; rebounds per game, 11.3; points per game, 20.2; and double-doubles, 12), Jones said Ayton creates a dilemma unlike most teams face in the conference, if not the nation." There's nobody," Jones said when asked to compare Ayton to anyone else he's seen. "He will probably be the No. 1 pick in the (NBA) draft. He's an animal. He's a monster. I don't know if you've seen anyone like that in college basketball. He's a special, one of a kind type talent." Entering the game, Ayton is one of only three players in the nation to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting 60 percent or greater. Duke's Marvin Bagley III and Saint Mary's Jock Landale are the other two." You can't expect one person to guard him," Jones said. "You live with the kick outs (to other players). You're not going to stop him; you just don't want him to go crazy."
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