Jerome Randle and Theo Robertson both had 21 points and California rallied to beat No. 22 Washington for the second time this season, 86-71 on Thursday night, the Huskies' second loss to an unranked team in eight days. Jordan Wilkes added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Bears (17-6, 6-4 Pac-10 Conference), who beat Washington in triple overtime earlier this season.
Quincy Pondexter matched his season-high with 21 points to lead the Huskies. Jon Brockman was absent offensively tonight even though he was an imposing figure on the boards. The Washington guards were unable to get the ball inside tonight and that was one of the major stories of the game.
Justin Dentmon cooled down and was only 1-7 from three point land. Isaiah Thomas was outplayed by the Cal guards in the second half. He didn't move the ball around very well to create open opportunities for his teammates.
UW jumped out to a quick nine point lead to open the second stanza but Cal rallied and took over the game. Washington had no answer for Cal on defense in the second half. Randle and Roberston were unstoppable.
Washington rebounded to beat No. 14 Arizona State on Saturday but blew a nine-point lead in the second half against Cal and missed an opportunity to move into a first-place tie with idle UCLA in the Pac-10.