California 98, Dartmouth 62

December 27, 2008

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Jerome Randle had an off day shooting but still scored 15 points and matched his season high with eight assists to lead California to a 98-62 win over Dartmouth in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic on Saturday.

Randle, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week and Cal's leading scorer, was just 5 of 12 from the floor after going into the game shooting 56 percent on the season. But the junior point guard kept the Bears offense moving, coming within one assist of his career high while also grabbing five rebounds.

Theo Robertson added 13 points and four rebounds, Jordan Wilkes matched his career high of 11 points and Patrick Christopher had 10 points for the Bears (10-2), who remained unbeaten in eight home games this season under first-year coach Mike Montgomery.

Alex Barnett had 15 points and four rebounds to lead Dartmouth (2-7). The Big Green, picked to finish seventh in the Ivy League, were playing the 2,500th game in school history.

Cal set a season-high for scoring while notching its most lopsided win since beating Long Beach State by 37 points in the same tournament last year. The Bears will play Portland for the tournament championship on Sunday in their final tuneup before opening Pac-10 play against Arizona on Jan. 2.

The starting times for Saturday's games were moved up so that Cal fans could watch the school's football team playing in the Emerald Bowl later in the evening.

The Bears got off to a slow start against Dartmouth and only led by three with 7:30 left in the first half before pulling away from the overmatched Big Green. Cal led by 16 at halftime then quickly built a 21-point edge early in the second half en route to their fourth straight win.

Cal remained unbeaten in six meetings between the two schools, though this was the first time the teams have played since 1984. Five of the six have been played in Berkeley while the other was at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1940.

The Bears committed 15 turnovers but outrebounded the smaller Big Green 46-29 and scored 52 points inside the paint. Much of that came from Robertson and Wilkes, son of former NBA star Jamal Wilkes, who tied his season high of eight points in the first half. Wilkes played sparingly in the second half but still tied his career high for scoring.