Dai Dai Ames posted 25 points, and Justin Pippen had 23 as Cal rallied out of an early hole to defeat Utah 79-72 on Tuesday at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.
Pippen also went 3-for-7 from 3-point range and was 4-for-4 in free-throw shooting for the Golden Bears (7-1), who have now won four straight games. John Camden had 13 points, and Lee Dort added eight points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.
Terrence Brown posted 15 points for the Runnin’ Utes (6-3). Seydou Traore and Keanu Dawes each posted 14 points while Dawes contributed nine rebounds.
Brown opened up scoring with a 3-point shot at 17 seconds into the game, but Ames quickly responded with a jump shot and a free throw to knot up the score 3-3. Utah later went on a 10-0 run and led 19-12 with 11:53 left in the first half. Camden’s 3-point shot brought Cal within two points with 10:15 left, but Nolan Dorsey’s shooting foul on Brown gave way to a 6-0 run that gave the Utes a 25-17 lead with 8:50 remaining. Chris Bell went a perfect 3-for-3 at the free-throw line to tie the game 28-28 with 5:34 to play.
Pippen hit a 3-point shot at 3:56 to give Cal a brief 33-30 lead, and he added another to give the Bears a 38-34 lead with 1:04 remaining. Ames sank a jump shot at the buzzer to give the hosts a 42-34 lead heading into halftime.
Pippen made his third shot from beyond the arc as Cal increased its lead to 45-38 with 17:56 to play in the second half. The Utes worked to trim down the Bears’ lead but was never able to pull even on the scoreboard thanks to Cal’s defensive rebounding. Pippen’s layup with 8:34 to go gave the Bears a 66-57 advantage, the host’s biggest lead of the night.
Traore brought the Utes within 72-70 with 3:21 to play. Don McHenry and Kendyl Sanders each failed to sink 3-point shots with the score 73-70 with under two minutes to play, Cal’s defense pressured Utah into a shot clock violation with 20 seconds to play, and Ames sank each of his last four free throws of the game to solidify the 79-72 final.
