Cal hasn't had a game all year where both Andre Kelly and Jordan Shepherd have been held in check, but the Bears two top scorers were kept down for the majority of a Wednesday afternoon matchup with Pacific. Grant Anticevich (25 points, 11 rebounds) and Jalen Celestine (12 points) kept the Bears afloat in a tight contest with Pacific, and a final 18-0 run by Shepherd, Kelly and Anticevich would put the Bears up 19 late. Cal outscored Pacific 21-2 over the final 7:11, as the Bears turned a close game into a 73-53 blowout.

Anticevich had a career high in 3s (7-11 from beyond the arc), while Celestine would come close to his career high in scoring (13 against Colorado last season), as the Bears needed a final run to pull away from a scappy Pacific effort. Cal now gets a significant before a road trip to Stanford January 2nd

"Really was a tale of two halves," Fox said,"really didn't think we played well in the first half, even though I thought we started the game in a decent fashion. We didn't play with a lot of authority in the first half, but in the second half, we found our groove, had a lot of guys contribute, Grant with a big night. We looked how we hoped to look in the second half, going into the holidays with a win that will make the holiday break more enjoyable."

Cal started with an initial 8-0 run with the hopes of turning the game into an early blowout, but Pacific battled back. Celestine picked up a couple early fouls, and without Kuany Kuany, Cal's defense had periods of struggle. Cal got up 13-5 early in the half, but were outscored 25-12 after the 13:49 mark in the first frame. Cal's offense slumped, after starting 5-9 from the field, Cal went 5-20 to end the half, turning the ball over seven times.

Pacific had struggled defending the 3 coming into the game, and while the Bears made five threes in the half, they couldn't get the ball to Kelly on the interior, as Cal's leading scorer coming in had 4 points on 2-8 shooting in the half, along with 2 points for Shepherd on 1-6 shooting. Cal trailed 30-25 at the break.

"I think a lot of it was Andre was excited to play the hometown school and really was a bit wound up," Fox noted, "I don't think we helped him as much, I thought he settled a couple times, I thought he didn't finish his rolls, I don't think we found him a couple times and thought he was a little sped up. Ultimately he got in the paint and got back in a groove."

Anticevich and Celestine would get the Bears going in the second half, both hitting threes out of the gate, with the two combining for Cal's first 11 points of the half. Joel Brown, who tied a career high with 8 assists, would knock down a corner three to put Cal up 39-35, but Pacific would tie it up at 41 all behind two layups from Sam Freeman. It would be back and forth, with Cal's defense giving a couple of easy looks up, with the Bears just keeping ahead of Pacific with a 52-51 lead.

Then came Kelly's offense, as the Bears isolated their big on the block, and he rewarded them with five straight points. Cal would force a miss, got a couple offensive rebounds on misses of their own, then got a couple layups from Jordan Shepherd. Cal got a steal, then a three from Anticevich, and suddenly, the Bears were up 13.

"Our defensive intensity, that's what catalyzed everything for us," Anticevich "(We were) running our sets with purpose, people being aggressive and just getting easy baskets "

Jarred Hyder would get a steal, leading to a Joel Brown fast break layup. Anticevich would get another layup, followed by a Kelly tip-in on an Anticevich miss, and suddenly, it was a blowout. 18 points in four and a half minutes, with Anticevich putting the capper on the game with a final 3, giving him a career high with his parents in attendance.

"Shucks, 7 out of 11, that's really good shooting," Brown said of Anticevich, "His feet were set, he shot with confidence, and Grant puts in the work. I'm glad the result showed today, Grant is capable of doing this, and we're looking forward to him doing it again sometime soon."

- 11 threes is the most Cal has made in a game this year, buoyed by Grant's career high game. The Bears went 11-24 (45.8%)

- Cal also only committed two second-half turnovers, after seven in the first.

- Cal held Pacific without a field goal for the final 7:42 of play, with Jarred Hyder providing strong defensive minutes off the bench.

- For the sixth time this season, the trio of Kelly (11 points, 6 rebounds), Shepherd (11 points, 3 assists) and Anticevich (25 points, 11 rebounds) all finished in double figures, Cal is 6-0 when all three hit the double-digit mark in a game

- Fox noted that Makale Foreman was limited, while Sam Alajiki has a minor injury. Kuany Kuany missed the game, but was out shooting baskets in Haas afterward.

- Celestine, who sat after picking up his fourth foul with 14:17 left, had a career high in rebounds with 7, despite playing only 20 minutes.

- Cal held Pacific below the 40% mark in shooting percentage (38.6%), the fourth consecutive opponent they've held to 40% or worse shooting.

Cal gets Stanford at Maples Pavilion January 2nd to start Pac-12 play anew.