The Best of Cal: 2010 MBB vs. Arizona State

With Cal Spring Football postponed until at least March 30th, UC Berkeley as a whole moving to remote instruction for the remainder of the semester, and Cal Athletics suspending spring sports altogether, we're taking a dive into games of the past and some of the greatest moments in the recent history of Cal Athletics. Today we continue with a look at when Cal Men's Basketball clinched their first conference championship in 50 years.

Previous Installments: 2019 Big Game | 2007 FB vs. Tennessee

The 2009-10 Cal men's basketball team is likely the best iteration of the Bears since the turn of the millennium. It was a perfect storm of experience and talent that came together for the Bears, at a time where the conference wasn't its strongest.

Four seniors started for the Bears, as Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Theo Robertson, and Jamal Boykin were joined by a rotating cast, including super-sub Jorge Gutierrez, junior-college transfer Markuri Sanders-Frison, and athletic forward Omondi Amoke. Senior Nikola Knezevic, 7'3" Max Zhang, DJ Seeley, and Brandon Smith all made appearances throughout the year as well.

- Cal came into their matchup with Arizona State a game up on the Sun Devils with a game to go after (two games to go for ASU after). A win guaranteed the Bears at the very least a share of the conference title, a loss meant that Cal would need help to win the title. (Cal stood at 11-5 in conference play, Arizona State at 10-5)

- It was senior day in Haas for the likes of Randle, Christopher, Robertson, Boykin, and Knezevic. Randle and Christopher came to Cal in the same class, as did Robertson and Knezevic (both had redshirted due to injury). Boykin transferred from Duke, sitting out a year and playing his final three years in Berkeley

- Cal hadn't won a conference title since 1960, the last year of Pete Newell as head coach. That team went on to a runner-up finish, falling to a Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek led Ohio State team.

- This was an opportunity for Mike Montgomery to win a conference title with multiple then-Pac 10 teams. He'd previously won one with Stanford.

- Cal had beaten Arizona State in the first matchup of these teams, a 78-70 win in Tempe

The first 29 minutes of this game were part offensive struggle, part solid defense, as neither team had success from beyond the arc.

- Jerren Shipp kept the pace for Arizona State early, knocking in his first four shots off the bench to give himself 10. Arizona State was 2-12 from beyond the arc in the first half, 12-15 inside the arc

- Patrick Christopher had had half his 14 points within the first six minutes of play. Christopher and Randle went a combined 9-24 from the field, while Theo Robertson and Jamal Boykin combined for 12-18 shooting and 27 points (Randle finished with 7, Robertson with 13, Boykin with 14).

- The score at the half was 30-29 in favor of ASU. The second half tilted back toward the Bears, by a count of 33-16.

The game turned after a Jamelle McMillan 3, one that made the score 44-42 Cal with 11 minutes left. Arizona State would score only four more points through the rest of the game, the last coming on a dunk in the final moments, as an 18-2 run clinched things for the Bears. It started with:

- A late in the clock pass from Sanders-Frison to Gutierrez for a flip up layup that hung in the air, dropped into the net, and netted Gutierrez a three point play, much to the satisfaction of a sold-out Haas Pavilion. It was the first time the arena was sold out all year. (59:10 in the video above). 47-42 Cal

- Gutierrez followed that with a drive and assist to Boykin, with goaltending being called. 49-42 Cal

- Christopher misses a contested 3, Amoke tips the rebound to Theo Robertson, who gets the put-back and-1 call. 52-42 Cal. (1:02:30)

From there is one of the best stretches of defense you'll see from a Cal team, consistent contesting of shots . Shipp (younger brother of former Cal forward Joe Shipp) gets a putback layup, but that's the only scoring on the ASU end until the final seconds.

After that, you have six straight points from Boykin, a baseline jumper where you can hear him say 'yep" (1:11:30), an easy layup off a Robertson feed (1:12:28), and another easy layup off a Gutierrez feed (1:14:51). That made it a 59-44 lead with 3:46 left.

At 1:18:12, Knezevic is subbed in for Gutierrez, as the Serbian guard (who bore a stunning resemblance to Michael Cera) got to play with his fellow seniors. A Theo Robertson 3 right after closes the scoring for the Bears, who came away with the 62-46 win.

There's much of this run and this game as a whole that wouldn't be possible without some of the supporting cast outside the seniors:

- Gutierrez, with his defensive intensity and couple key baskets, started the Cal run. He also had some of the best defensive instincts, playing half a man to discourage passes inside.

- Sanders-Frison, playing limited minutes but making a few key passes, using his frame to screen off defenders on a Gutierrez dunk, while also putting a body on Eric Boateng, who had gone 11-11 from the field at Stanford two days prior.

- Omondi Amoke, rebounding bigger than his frame and making a couple key tips on the glass, one leading to the Robertson three-point play that gave the Bears a double digit lead.

- Cal would go on to beat Stanford the next week to clinch the full Pac-10 title. They'd advance to the Pac-10 Tournament Final, dropping the final to Washington.

- Eight players would leave from this Cal team, all five seniors, Max Zhang (who went to play professionally in China), and both DJ Seeley and Omondi Amoke transferring.

- Randle left the Bears as Cal's all-time leading scorer, with 1886 points for his career.

- Cal would go onto the NCAA Tournament, drawing an 8-seed and falling to eventual champion Duke in the 2nd round.