Cal-UNLV Notebook

Notes and links from California's thrilling second-round upset win over No. 5-seed UNLV at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

ANALYSIS: Cal Gets Back to Basics
ANALYSIS: Crabbe Takes Center Stage
CSDTV: Thurmanator Comes Online

NOTEBOOK
With its 64-61 win, California improved to 21-11 on the year, 20-17 in NCAA Tournament play all-time, and 12-6 in NCAA Tournament opening games. Head coach Mike Montgomery improves to 2-3 in NCAA Tournament games while in Berkeley.

The third-round game against the winner of Syracuse-Montana will take place on Saturday, with a time yet to be announced.

The Bears have won 109 games since Montgomery took over the program -- the most for the program over a five-year period since Pete Newell-led squads won 110 games from 1956-1960.

RELATED: CSDTV: Monty Moves On to Third Round

Cal is now 3-1 in games played at HP Pavilion all-time.

With a game-high 19 points, Allen Crabbe moved into Cal’s top 10 in single-season scoring. He is now ninth with 599 points.

With his first-half three-pointer, Crabbe moved up to a tie for seventh on the Bears’ all-time single-season trey list (62). He holds three of the top seven positions, also making 83 (2nd) last year and 62 (T7th) as a freshman in 2011.

Cal limited UNLV to 32.2% shooting from the floor, the fifth time in the last seven games the Bears have held an opponent to less than 40%. For the second half, UNLV shot just 28.6%.

Senior Robert Thurman scored 12 points (6-for-6 FG, all dunks) and reached double digits for the first time since scoring 14 against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 18.

CSDTV: Kravish, Thurman React in Locker Room

With five blocks -- led by three from sophomore David Kravish -- Cal extended its single-season program record to 152 rejections on the year. Kravish tied the NCAA Tournament record (held by four others) with his trio of swats, moving up the Bears’ individual single-season list to third, with 55.

Kravish, though, was not the only one in the block party. With six rejections, the Rebels tied a season high for a Cal opponent (also Creighton and Washington).

Junior guard Justin Cobbs tied a program NCAA Tournament record with three 3-pointers, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to set a percentage record.

RELATED: CSDTV in the Locker Room: Cobbs the Victorious

The first two-plus minutes of each half proved to be crucial for the Bears, as Cal jumped out to quick starts in both halves. The Bears built a 9-3 lead 2:36 into the first half, and then scored 9 of the first 12 points over the opening 2:14 of the second half.

Junior forward Richard Solomon made a three-pointer from the top of the key with 3:51 left in the first half. It was his fourth three-pointer of the year and first since sinking one in the regular season vs. Utah on Feb. 28. Overall on the season, Solomon is 4-for-12 from long distance. Last year, he was 0-for-6 from three-point land, and as a freshman, he was 3-for-9.

The first half featured three lead changes and four ties.

UNLV guard Bryce Dejean-Jones -- a transfer from USC – scored seven of the Rebels’ first 12 points, and finished the day 5-for-15 for 15 points, with two rebounds, two assists, two turnovers, one block and one steal.

Forward Anthony Bennett -- who went 9-for-17 from the floor and 7-for-11 from the free-throw line last time he played the Bears -- went just 4-for-11, scoring seven of his 15 total points from the charity stripe. While he had a game-high 11 boards, he tallied no blocks and turned the ball over twice. Bennett did not hit his first bucket until 10:02 had elapsed in the first half. He then went 6:38 before scoring his next point on a free throw, as he scored just three points in the first half.

In the second half, the Rebels went just as cold as a team, going 11:32 without making a field goal, during which time the Bears went on a 15-7 run.