Mon, Jul 06, 2009
 Arizona's Fendi Onobun, left, and Jawann McClellan try to close down Cal's Jamal Boykin in the second half. McClellan was called for a foul on the play. Dean Knuth / arizona daily star
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Cats find a way backBayless nets 24 points, hits key foul shots as 'desperate' Arizona rallies against Bears
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.20.2008
BERKELEY, Calif. — Only during Arizona's suspenseful 2007-08 regular season could a mid-January victory feel like it came in March.
After the Wildcats hung on to beat California 79-75 Saturday at Haas Pavilion, Jamelle Horne tried to keep inside what he could not. What his teammates could not.
What interim head coach Kevin O'Neill could not.
They knew a loss meant a 1-4 start in the Pac-10 and, doing a little math, could figure that their chances of a 20-win season and an NCAA tournament bid might start looking rougher if they couldn't put the Bears away.
They knew, after losing to Stanford on Thursday and with No. 8 Washington State coming to McKale Center next Thursday, they couldn't afford another step backward. Not without significant anguish.
"Man, we needed this win so bad," Horne said. "We don't want to say we were desperate for a win but …"
Before Horne could finish, Jerryd Bayless did it for him.
"We were desperate! Desperate!" Bayless shouted in the cramped visitors' locker room.
With Bayless having spoken after leading the Wildcats with 24 points and sealing the win with 4-of-4 free-throw shooting in the final 9 seconds, Horne went ahead.
"We had to come out of here with a win. We should have won at Stanford but we'll take this one."
They did, happily.
Even O'Neill was in an especially good mood after the game, despite fretting about over the Wildcats' defense in the final two minutes and criticizing himself for playing Chase Budinger too heavily after Budinger's accurate shooting began slipping in the second half.
Arizona, after all, had improved to 12-6 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-10 while Cal dropped to 11-6 and 2-4. The Wildcats, who have won 17 of their last 19 games with the Bears, remain relevant in the Pac-10 race.
"It's a great win for us," O'Neill said. "Cal was desperate for a win. We were desperate for a win. And anytime you go on the road and get a split, you should be happy."
Arizona was also desperate for some good shooting. The Wildcats had struggled from the field in their two previous Pac-10 games, hitting just 38.9 percent from the field in a 64-59 loss at ASU on Jan. 9 and just 37.5 percent in its 56-52 loss at Stanford on Thursday.
But Saturday, they rebounded by hitting 51 percent from the field.
Bayless had 24 points on 6-of-13 field goal shooting, while going 8 of 9 from the line. Budinger had 21 on 7-for-15 shooting from the field, and Nic Wise had 15 on 4-of-7 shooting.
Bayless, Budinger and Wise all made at least three three-pointers, while Bayless and Wise closed out the Bears over the final minute at the line.
The game entered the final minute tied at 70 but Cal's Eric Vierneisel fouled Budinger on the wing and Budinger hit both ends of the one-and-one to give Arizona a 72-70 lead.
"We definitely didn't think we had it" at that point, Budinger said. "We needed to get a stop and make the free throws."
They did both. Vierneisel turned the ball over on Cal's next possession, and the Bears were forced to begin fouling.
Wise, who returned from a hard fall late in the first half that the UA initially feared was a concussion, hit 3 of 4 free throws over the final 27 seconds was perfect from the line in the final 9 seconds.
For Bayless, it was an especially critical resurgence after Stanford held him to 3-of-12 shooting Thursday. Bayless said his right ankle was uncomfortable in a new shoe he wore at the beginning of Thursday's game, and he eventually wore a pair that the Cardinal gave him.
By Saturday, he said there were no more issues.
"I've been feeling confident," Bayless said. "The Stanford game, it was just my whole foot thing. That took me out of my whole game. But I've got it back now."
O'Neill said it may have also helped that Bayless was in his third game back from a knee sprain that kept him out four games, especially after O'Neill talked with Suns GM Steve Kerr, who played at Arizona when O'Neill was an assistant.
"We both agreed on this: Your first game back from injury you play with great adrenaline; your second game back is a harder game," O'Neill said. "And it held true with Jerryd the other night. He was all befuddled. He had me befuddled."
In the first half, Bayless scored 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, closing it out with two three-pointers that gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 39-37, just before halftime.
Budinger had 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the half. He hit two straight threes to pull Arizona within 19-18 and later hit another three to cut Cal's lead to 25-24.
While O'Neill played Budinger, Bayless, Jordan Hill and Jawann McClellan 34 minutes or more, he gave Horne 17 and Fendi Onobun 14 in the absence of Bret Brielmaier, who was sitting out with his sprained shoulder.
Horne started for the first time since the season opener Nov. 13 against NAU. He had not played in the past three games.
"I was trying to get back to that game-time speed," Horne said, "and not stir up too many problems for our team."
Horne and Onobun alternated at power forward, mostly guarding Cal's Ryan Anderson, who led all scorers with 30 points.
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