What makes basketball great is that there can be many different sagas within a single 40-minute span, and sometimes it goes beyond that. Saturday night, Cal needed five extra minutes to dispatch a pesky Miami squad that was looking for its first conference win of the season.

The Bears entered the night without leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic for a second consecutive game as he deals with a hip injury. Again, Cal had several players step up to make up for the lost production with Stojakovic on the bench.

Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson scoring 30 points looked like it would be the story of the game Saturday, but instead it was DJ Campbell who snagged the spotlight against the Hurricanes at Haas Pavilion in what ended as a 98-94 victory for the Bears.

Campbell took over in the extra time after Miami guard Matthew Cleveland hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to tie the game at 79-79. The Western Carolina transfer guard scored 9 of his 22 points in overtime to help create enough separation for the Bears to withstand a late push by the Hurricanes.

With the score tied, 81-81, Campbell went on a personal 6-0 run that was capped with a steal and fastbreak layup for the Cal junior. Most his damage in the extra period came from the free-throw line where Campbell connected on 7-of-8 attempts to help put the game on ice for the Bears.

"He's almost like that 10-year NBA vet that just is steady and solid, and knows exactly what to do in almost every scenario," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said about the Virginia native. "He knocks down his free throws. A lot of times he guards the other team's best player. He's physical. ... He was just phenomenal."

While Campbell's burst at the end of the game is ultimately what secured the victory for Cal, Wilkinson's play for most of the night carried the Bears without their leading scorer.

The freshman made his second start Saturday, and he delivered his most productive showing of the year to set a new career high in scoring.

Cal head to weather the storm in the second half as Miami continually had answers for every run, and it was 18 points from Wilkinson that kept the Bears afloat.

No other player had more than 6 points in the second half making Wilkinson's scoring necessary to help the Bears avoid becoming the first team to allow Miami to win in conference play.

"Made huge plays," Madsen said of his star freshman. "We know when we put the ball in Jeremiah's hands, he's gonna make a play to the basket or he's gonna create for someone else. Jeremiah is a freshman. To be starting, to be leading us in minutes on a night like tonight ... I'm incredibly pleased with Jeremiah's progress, who he is as a player, who Jeremiah is as a person."

Two of Campbell's 6 points in the second half helped create a 4-point cushion for the Bears with 18 seconds to play in regulation but Cleveland's 3-pointer after a couple free throws, and a free throw on the other side from Wilkinson, allowed the Hurricanes to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Madsen said he advised his group on the floor of certain scenarios to avoid and the Bears did not want to foul in the situation to create a 4-point scenario allowing Cleveland to hit the game-tying shot to end the second half.

The Hurricanes chipped away at a 47-39 halftime deficit and eventually regained a lead, 57-55, with 10:52 to play in the second half. From that moment through the end of regulation neither team led by more than 4 points as both the Bears and Hurricanes traded baskets over the next 10:52.

Wilkinson was responsible for four consecutive Cal baskets that eventually helped the Bears gain control late in the second half.

All nine players who saw the floor for the Bears Saturday night contributed with at least 1 point while eight of the nine players had at least 6 points in the win.

In addition to Wilkinson and Campbell, fellow guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored in double figures with 11 points including a big 3-pointer in overtime.

Big man Mady Sissoko had to battle through some pain Saturday, but he continued his impressive stretch with 10 rebounds to go along with 6 points for the Bears. Fellow big man Lee Dort stepped up in a big way in the first half and finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.

Spencer Mahoney made the most of his 5 minutes off the bench with 6 points and accounted for two of Cal's nine 3-pointers in the game.

Cal will now take a midweek trip to Dallas to face SMU on Wednesday night before returning home for three consecutive games beginning with a matchup against Syracuse next Saturday at Haas Pavilion.