Associated Press
BERKELEY, Calif. — California coach Mike Montgomery isn’t getting too concerned with the Pac-10 standings just yet. Even after the Golden Bears won to move into a three-way tie for second place, Montgomery shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know the big picture,” Montgomery said following Cal’s 81-78 overtime win over Southern California on Thursday night. “I just know that you don’t like to lose twice to anybody. For them and us, this was a big game.”
Even more for the Bears, who would have dropped two games behind first-place Washington in the loss column with three games left had they fell to USC. Instead, Cal (21-7, 10-5) joins No. 14 Arizona State and No. 22 UCLA in a tie for second, 1 1/2 games behind the Huskies.
Patrick Christopher scored eight of his career-high 29 points in overtime while Jerome Randle added 15 points and eight assists for the Bears, who blew a 10-point lead in the final seven minutes of regulation before winning it in overtime to split the season series with the Trojans.
Christopher and freshman Jorge Gutierrez sank two free throws apiece to put Cal ahead 79-75 in overtime with 16.4 seconds left before Daniel Hackett made a 3-pointer to pull the Trojans within 79-78.
Christopher was then fouled while trying to dribble out the clock and made both free throws. Hackett missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end it.
“Knowing how they guarded me the last time, I didn’t want to have the same game so I had to do something different,” said Christopher, who was held to four points in the Bears’ 73-62 loss to the Trojans on Jan. 31. “I was more aggressive on each touch that I had.”
Hackett matched his career-high of 26 points and added four assists for USC (16-11, 7-8), which lost its second straight and fifth in six games.
“I thought we played with a real purpose, we just didn’t come out with enough stops,” Trojans coach Tim Floyd said. “They had eight free throws in overtime and made them all. I was proud of our effort. We just didn’t get it done.”
Theo Robertson scored four of his 10 points in overtime for Cal.
Cal led by 12 early in the second half and was ahead 61-51 with 6:46 remaining before USC went on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 65. Both teams had a chance to win in regulation but the Trojans’ Marcus Simmons had his shot blocked in the paint while Randle missed three shots, including one at the buzzer.
The two teams traded baskets early in overtime before Christopher took over, scoring six of the Bears final eight points.
“We have guys who can shoot the ball but if they don’t shoot the ball, we’re going to struggle, it’s as simple as that,” Montgomery said. “Patrick was making good shots and he was confident.”
USC, which scored just three points over the final seven minutes of Saturday’s 60-51 loss to Washington, rallied late in the second half but couldn’t do the same in overtime and scored just one basket over the final 2:29. The Trojans lost despite outrebounding the Bears 30-28 and committing only eight turnovers.
Christopher, who was held to nine points in Saturday’s 65-54 loss at Oregon State, had that many in the first nine minutes against USC. He made his first six shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to help the Bears take a 30-21 lead and finished the half with 16 points.
Cal needed every bit.
With Hackett exploiting creases in the Bears’ defense, the Trojans came back from the early deficit and pulled within 38-34 at halftime. Paired against Christopher early, Hackett picked up his second foul midway through the half but stayed on the floor, a gamble by Floyd that paid off, as the junior guard had 12 points before the break to keep the Trojans close.
Floyd was hit with a technical foul midway through the second half after arguing with referees during an official’s timeout.
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