Cal Ensures Duke vs. Pitino Isn't in Cards

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- So much for the highly-anticipated Duke-Louisville showdown here in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 8 seeded California was simply too good early -- and too good late -- for No. 9 Louisville.

The Golden Bears exploded to an early 18-point advantage and then refused to wilt under a furious Cardinals rally to post an exciting 77-62 victory in Friday's fourth and final opening-round game at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

California, winner of its first regular-season Pac-10 title in a half century, rarely skipped a beat without suspended 6-foot-7 forward Omondi Amoke. The Golden Bears (24-10) made the Cardinals (20-13) try to keep pace with their smaller, quicker lineup.

On your mark, get set, go.

"We shot the ball extremely well," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said.

"I think we rocked them back a little bit, and I think it took them a little while to get their aggressiveness back, and when they did, they got us back on our heels a little bit and were able to get back in the game."

California led early by advantages of 12-0, 19-4 and 30-12 before stunned Louisville caught its breath. The Cardinals, however, rallied within six points four different times in the first half and appeared poised to overtake the Golden Bears.

It was just California Dreaming.

Jerome Randle's trey from just inside half court as the buzzer sounded pushed the Golden Bears' advantage back to double digits (41-30) at intermission. They extended it to 60-46 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game before the Cardinals once again rallied.

They pulled within 62-58, but could never get a key stop. California went on a 15-2 spurt, punctuated by a technical foul whistled on Louisville coach Rick Pitino, to surge back in front 75-60 with under two minutes left.

Cal advances into Sunday night's second-round game against No. 1 seed Duke.

Of course, a Duke-Cal game for Golden Bears fans brings back memories of 1993, when Jason Kidd led California to the upset in the second round.

Duke-Louisville, meanwhile, would have been a rematch of the 1986 national title game won by the Cardinals. And there's the memory of Christian Laettner's catch-turn-and-shoot impossible game-winner in the 1992 regional against Kentucky, coached by Pitino.

Rakeem Buckles led Louisville with a career-high 20 points. Leading scorer Samardo Samuels added 16.

"It was rough tonight," Samuels said.

"They came out real aggressive to start and we played catch-up all night. We finally got them tired, but you get them against the ropes and they hit a 3 and that deflates you."

KEY ELEMENT

The Golden Bears' start.

Ironically, the start of the game was actually delayed 20 minutes due a malfunctioning shot clock atop one of the baskets. Both teams retreated to their locker rooms as technicians changed out an electronic circuit board. The Cardinals should have stalled for extra time.

Cal scored the first 12 points and held a 22-4 advantage after an intentional foul on Terrence Jennings resulted in a five-point trip. But let's give Louisville credit, too. The Cardinals answered with a 12-0 spurt to get back into the game.

"We came out and we were smoking," Cal guard Patrick Christopher said.

"We were hitting shots, everybody was finding each other, and I don't think we struggled with the press too much, and that was a key for us. We didn't panic much, and we got it done."


GAME BALL GOES TO

Seniors Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson, take a bow.

The trio helped California advance to the second round for the first time since 2003. Robertson and Randle each scored 21 points and Christopher added 17. They combined on 20 of 25 field goals, including eight treys, as the Golden Bears shot 51 percent from the floor -- and remain undefeated this season when they eclipse the 50-percent mark.

"The concentration was there, we just knew we had to be smart with the ball and close the game out," Robertson said. "We had a lot of really good contributions. Really everyone just locked in and made some plays down the stretch."


SOUNDBITE

"I always thought the PAC 10 was a good conference competitively night in and night out. Of course, it's going to take a beating when not too many seeds are in the Top 25. The time to play great basketball is right now. Washington is doing great, we're doing great, as well, so we want to keep things rolling." -- Cal guard Patrick Christopher.