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Crabbe paces Cal over UC Irvine

Nov 12, 2011 - 6:11 AM Berkeley, CA (Sports Network) - Allen Crabbe scored 24 points and Jorge Gutierrez added 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the 24th-ranked California Golden Bears cruised to a 77-56 win over the UC Irvine Anteaters.

Harper Kamp chipped in 10 points and eight boards for the Golden Bears (1-0), who return four starters from a team that made an NIT appearance and went 18-15 a year ago.

Chris McNealy led all UC Irvine (0-1) scorers with 14.

Russell Turner, who is a disciple of Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery -- serving under Montgomery at Stanford and the NBA's Golden State Warriors -- guided the Anteaters to a 13-19 mark in his first year as head coach last season.

With three of its top players gone from last season, UC Irvine's 2011-12 campaign features no seniors and eight freshman, and the inexperience showed against the Golden Bears in the first half.

Gutierrez scored all 11 of his points in the first half and led Cal in the opening 20 minutes as the Golden Bears took a 48-23 halftime advantage.

A 15-2 run sparked the Anteaters midway through the second half to bring them within 63-50 after McNealy converted a pair from the line with just over eight minutes to go.

But Cal regained its stride by outscoring UC Irvine 14-6 the rest of the way.

The Golden Bears made 8-of-17 from beyond the arc and manhandled the Anteaters on the boards, 47-28.

Game Notes

Cal leads the all-time series over UC Irvine 5-2. These squads last met in 2003 in a much closer confrontation with the Golden Bears escaping victorious, 65-57...Cal is 4-0 in season openers under Montgomery...Crabbe was 4-of-10 from three...The Golden Bears connected on 13-of-19 from the foul line.