Cal equaled its most decisive conference road win ever with an 88-58 rout of Arizona State, a game that saw the Bears limit the Sun Devils to 36-percent shooting.

The Bears knew their assignment at Arizona would be tougher. Cal had dropped 10 straight to Arizona at McKale Center, the previous four by an average margin of 25.5 points.

Arizona made it 11 in a row with a 60-55 victory, but Cal emerged from the game with the knowledge that it competed with its long-time nemesis. Only a missed 3-point try by junior guard Ayinde Ubaka with three seconds left -- a shot that rattled in and out of the rim -- prevented the Bears from taking the Wildcats into overtime.

Cal held Arizona to 33-percent shooting, ran its own offensive with increasing efficiency as the game unfolded, and did not back down when the Wildcats opened a 12-point lead early in the second half.

"I think our team is learning it doesn't always have to be pretty," Cal coach Ben Braun said. "You can win with grit, with determination, with heart. We asked our team, `Did we get better this weekend?' The answer is yes."

--Cal trailed ASU 9-0, 11-1 and 16-5, but led 36-30 at halftime and never trailed again. The Bears used a 24-2 closing run to build the final margin.

--The loss to Arizona was the 11th straight for the Bears at McKale Center. It was the first time since 1987 Cal faced an unranked Arizona team.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "You can see how good of a player Powe is when he gets 23 (points) and 13 (rebounds), wearing two guys practically the whole time." -- Arizona coach Lute Olson on Cal sophomore Leon Powe.

GAME REVIEW:

Cal 88, Arizona State 58

Arizona 60, Cal 55

GAME PREVIEW:

vs. Washington, Thursday, Jan. 26.

vs. Washington State, Saturday, Jan. 28.

at Oregon State, Thursday, Feb. 2.

at Oregon, Saturday, Feb. 4.

KEYS: At least the Bears won't be caught off guard by Washington's ferocious tempo and full-court defense, coming off a similar assignment at Arizona. Cal must exert its inside game and put the clamps on UW star guard Brandon Roy. Washington State, of course, poses an entirely different set of problems, with its deliberate style. The Bears swept the Cougars a year ago, and that was without Leon Powe.

ROSTER REPORT:

--F Rod Benson underwent surgery on Jan. 20 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Benson, the Bears' leading scorer and rebounder in 2004-05, is expected to miss four to five weeks, perhaps returning for the final week of the Pac-10 regular season.

Benson sat out four of the Bears' first six games this season with a stress fracture in his heel, and averaged 6.3 points in 10 games off the bench before suffering the knee injury in practice.

--F Leon Powe had one of the best games of his career vs. Arizona, scoring 23 points -- 17 of them in the second half -- on 8-for-12 shooting. He also had 13 rebounds, two assists and just one turnover against constant double-teaming.

Powe finally becomes eligible for inclusion in the Pac-10 statistics this week, having now played in 75 percent of the Bears' games. His scoring mark of 19.75 ppg will rank No. 2 behind Arizona's Hassan Adams at 19.83, and his rebounding average of 10.2 tops the league.

--G Ayinde Ubaka, moved off the point against Arizona State, responded with 24 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career. Ubaka shot 8-for-12, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. He 13 points and five assists at Arizona, but was 1-for-8 from 3-point range, including a miss with 3 seconds left that would have tied the score.

--G/F Theo Robertson, who was scoreless in his previous four games, had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes against Arizona State. He came back with 11 points at Arizona.