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Cobbs leads Cal over Denver

Nov 27, 2011 - 1:24 AM Berkeley, CA (Sports Network) - Justin Cobbs scored a career-high 22 points, Allen Crabbe had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 20 California handed Denver its first loss of the season, 80-59, on Saturday.

Jorge Gutierrez, Harper Kamp and Brandon Smith added 11 points apiece as the Golden Bears (5-1) bounced back from Tuesday's 39-point loss to Missouri.

"We had a bad taste in our mouth after that loss," said Crabbe. "We've been trying to put it behind us and keep moving forward."

Chris Udofia scored nine points to lead the Pioneers (4-1) while Brett Olson had eight and Royce O'Neale chipped in seven.

Brian Stafford, who was averaging a team-high 17.0 points entering the game, was held to just six against the Bears.

Cal started the game on a 12-2 run, holding Denver without a field goal for the first six minutes. The Bears missed their first six shots from the field, but went 15-of-23 the rest of the way to take a 38-22 lead at halftime.

The Bears, who have held at least a 20-point lead in five of their first six games of the season, didn't reach the mark until Gutierrez's three-pointer made it 46-25 with under 17 minutes left.

Cal cruised from there, leading by as many as 30 points and turning the ball over a season-low 13 times four days after giving it away 21 times against Missouri.

"Truthfully, I think Missouri is better than we are," said Cal head coach Mike Montgomery. "They kind of got into our heads. We kind of allowed them to, and the next thing you know, it was a runaway. We probably should have felt pretty bad about that and we wanted to get back onto the floor.

"I watched these guys (Denver) beat Saint Mary's, and that scared me. The guys really paid attention to the game plan. The scout was good and the scout team was good. Once we started making some shots, we played pretty well."

Game Notes

Cal has won all three meetings with Denver, with the previous two games taking place in the late 1960s...The Pioneers had opened the season with wins over Portland State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Southern Mississippi and St. Mary's.