Nov. 16, 2010COLLEGE PAGECAL PAGE
BOXSCORE
BERKELEY (AP) -- Jorge Gutierrez had a career-high 18 points and eight assists, Markhuri Sanders-Frison added 15 points and 10 rebounds and California won its season opener 80-63 over Cal State Northridge on Tuesday night.
Gutierrez, the lone remaining starter from last year's Pac-10 championship team, took only four shots but made 13 of 15 free throws. Eight came in the final seven minutes for the Golden Bears, who extended their home winning streak against nonconference opponents to 20.
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More importantly, Gutierrez provided much-needed stability for a team that is short on experience.
"Your point guard, his job is to keep those young people and get them in a position to be successful," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "I thought Jorge did a really good job of that. That's what he's got to do at that position. That means as a point guard he's doing his job."
Cal overcame a sluggish first half and led by as many as 21 despite missing 11 of 16 3-pointers.
Rashaun McLemore scored a career-best 24 points to lead Northridge (0-2).
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The Bears won their first conference championship in 50 years last season but are in rebuilding mode this year after losing Pac-10 Player of the Year Jerome Randle and three other starters to graduation.
Gutierrez and Harper Kamp are at the heart of Cal's makeover. Both showed why against the Matadors.
In his first game since replacing Randle at point guard, Gutierrez ran an offense that at times looked rusty and at other times sharp. The eight assists were a career high for Gutierrez, while his 18 points were three better than his previous best.
Kamp, who sat out all of 2009 recovering from knee surgery, had 12 points and seven rebounds. That enabled Cal to keep the game close until Gutierrez got the offense going in the second half.
"I was pretty nervous," said Kamp, who briefly came out of the game after rolling his right ankle. "My stomach was hurting all day. I was just thankful to be back out there."
The Bears have never lost to the Matadors in six games. Cal beat Northridge in 1995 but later forfeited the game due to NCAA violations.
Northridge, only two years removed from appearing in the NCAA tournament, kept it close in the first half but went scoreless for more than six minutes early in the second. The Matadors missed seven straight shots during the drought and never recovered.
"The second half our mentality changed a little bit, and we started to settle for quick shots and 3s," Northridge coach Bobby Braswell said. "This was the perfect example of being a young team where we played a great first half ... and instead of building on that, we just changed our mind-set."
Northridge's Michael Lizarraga, who attended the California School for the Deaf in nearby Hayward, scored a career-best 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Cal's inexperience showed early. The Bears went more than five minutes without a field goal, missed eight of 12 free throws during one stretch and repeatedly struggled trying to get the ball inside against Northridge's zone defense.
"We've got to allow these young kids to learn," Montgomery said. "We're not going to get any better if we can't get these young guys to learn what it's like. They're going to make mistakes. We just have to hope they learn from their mistakes."
The Matadors, who lost to UCLA 83-59 in their opener Friday, led by five on McLemore's step-back 18-footer with 3:55 to go in the first half. The Bears later tied the game before McLemore's free throw gave Northridge a 37-36 lead at the break.
Northridge, 2-for-12 on 3-pointers in the loss to the Bruins, had six in the first half.
Sanders-Frison scored four straight points for Cal coming out of the break, and Allen Crabbe added five points as part of a 13-0 run that pushed the Bears' lead to 51-39.