Bear hunt successful

Associated Press

SEATTLE – Cal came into Saturday’s game with Washington intent on stopping Doug Wrenn, the Huskies’ most potent weapon and the second-leading scorer in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Mission accomplished. Wrenn managed just six points, well below his 20.6 per game average. But while the Golden Bears were wrapping up Wrenn, C.J. Massingale kicked his game into high gear and matched a career high with 25 points as the Huskies upset Cal 75-60.

“I thought if I picked it up on the defensive end, then the offense would come,” said Massingale, a 6-4 guard.

And it did.

Massingale sliced his way through the Bears’ defense, hit nine of 15 shots from the field and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds for Washington.

“Massingale dominated our guards,” said California coach Ben Braun, who was disappointed in his players’ lack of focus and their failure to prevent the Massingale’s penetration.

“Our defense was poor. He just blew by the defenders. They were slow to react.”

Cal, the top defensive team in the conference, kept Wrenn, who had led Washington in scoring in each of its previous 11 games, to two points on a pair of free throws in the first half. The Bears didn’t allow him a field goal until there was 7:15 remaining in the game.

“It seemed like their whole plan was to stop me,” Wrenn said. “Every time I got the ball, two or three guys were running at me. That’s fine. I’m not a selfish player. I’d rather take the win over a lot of points.”

Washington’s victory was just its third in conference play this season and puts the Huskies in position to overtake Oregon State, which also has just three league wins, for the eighth and final spot in the postseason conference tournament

“That was a big win, UW coach Bob Bender said. “That was a needed win and that sets up Thursday as a critical game.”

The Huskies travel to Corvallis, Ore., Thursday to play the Beavers.

“It’s going to be an all-out war,” Wrenn said of the Oregon State game. “It looks like if they win, they’re in the tournament. If we win, then we’re in. It’s going to be great.”

Washington’s win snapped Cal’s four-game winning streak and kept the Bears from climbing into a first-place tie in the league. With Arizona losing earlier in the day, a victory would have given the Bears a share of the Pac-10 lead. Instead, California stays one game back with four remaining before the conference tournament.

“Our guys knew it was a big game,” Braun said. “We’re battling for a championship, and we should have played better.”

Washington (9-16, 3-12 Pac-10) led 38-33 after Massingale scored the Huskies’ first seven points of the second half, but the Bears responded with a 12-0 run that gave them a 45-38 advantage with 14:13 left in the game.

The Huskies regained the lead at 53-51 on a 3-pointer by Curtis Allen with 9:06 to play. From that point on, Washington never trailed.

Allen put the game away by scoring the Huskies’ final eight points on free throws in the final minute. Allen and Grant Leep finished with 12 points apiece.

California (18-6, 9-5) failed to post its first five-game Pac-10 winning streak since they won six straight in 1997.

The Bears were led by Joe Shipp’s 15 points. Tashaan Forehan-Kelly had 12, and Solomon Hughes added 11.

The game was tied at 10 six minutes into the contest before the Bears scored the next eight points. The run was stopped when Washington’s Erroll Knight hit a 3-pointer, cutting the Bears’ lead to 18-13 with 11:35 remaining in the half.

The Huskies’ final basket of the half was a layin from Leep after an 18-foot no-look pass from Allen with 16 seconds remaining. It gave Washington a 31-29 lead at the break.

The Huskies’ success or failure in these final weeks of the season may factor into coach Bob Bender’s job security. His team had lost eight of its previous nine games. The Huskies desperately want to avoid losing 20 games three seasons in a row.