by Jeff Faraudo, San Mateo County Times, Calif. , San Mateo County Times

"Last year we won our opener against USC, then it was kind of downhill from there," Christopher said, alluding to the Bears' 6-12 record in Pac - 10 Conference play. "Focus is going to be the key coming in (Saturday) and getting ready for Arizona State. Those guys are a great team as well."

The 17th-ranked Sun Devils (12-1, 1-0), who visit Cal (12-2, 1-0) at 5 p.m. today at Haas Pavilion, showed everyone just how good they can be in a 90-60 thrashing of previously unbeaten Stanford.

"I was shocked. Thirty points is something," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "It's shocking, because Stanford is a good basketball team. We know Arizona State is good. At some point, what difference does it make, whether it's 18 or 30? But it was pretty decisive."

Point guard Jerome Randle didn't know the outcome of the Stanford-ASU game until being told on Saturday morning. "Really?" he asked. "Whatever. I knew they were good."

Randle said Cal's all-junior starting lineup is equipped to give proper perspective to just the Bears' third win in 21 tries against Arizona and to the assignment ahead.

"I told Patrick, 'We know what it feels like to have a losing season, and we don't want that feeling again,'" Randle said. "One game

is not enough. We have 17 more games to go. We've got to keep playing."

The Bears will have to be at their best against ASU, which employs a sticky matchup zone defense and features sophomore guard James Harden, the Pac - 10 scoring leader at 23.2 points per game, and 6-foot-10 senior forward Jeff Pendergraph, who had 31 points and 11 rebounds at Stanford.

Montgomery noted that Stanford tried ganging up on Harden, who was scoreless at halftime but wound up with 17 points and 10 assists. The tradeoff meant Pendergraph ran wild.

The Bears plan to pay proper attention to both players, hoping to minimize their output, while not ignoring ASU's perimeter shooters.

"If you're going to win in this league, you're going to have to guard good players," Montgomery said. "We know how good Harden is -- he's a great player. He might be the best player in the league."

Expect the Bears to once again call on their young bench to contribute. Three days after warning he might shorten his rotation, Montgomery got solid contributions from 10 players against Arizona.

Reserves Harper Kamp, Jorge Gutierrez, Omondi Amoke, D.J. Seeley and Nikola Knezevic combined to play 65 minutes, providing 13 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and only one turnover.

"A guy doesn't have to go in and be a hero," Montgomery said. "He just has to go in and sustain the effort and do the job defensively. And I thought we got that."

Contact Jeff Faraudo at jeffscribe@aol.com

Cal report

Today's men's game:

vs. Arizona State

-- TIPOFF: 5 p.m., Haas Pavilion, Berkeley.

-- TV/RADIO: CSNCA/1550-AM.

-- BEARS UPDATE: Cal (12-2, 1-0 in Pac - 10 ) climbed seven spots to No. 20 in the Sagarin computer rankings after its 69-55 win over Arizona in Friday's Pac - 10 opener. ... Cal and ASU have won on the other's home court eight straight games over the past four seasons. ... The Bears are 10 games over .500 for the first time since sitting at 16-6 after a 75-66 win over Arizona on Feb. 16, 2006. ... The Bears' NCAA-leading 3-point accuracy (50.3 percent) will be tested by an ASU matchup zone that limited Stanford to 2-for-18 shooting.

-- SUN DEVILS UPDATE: No. 17 Arizona State (12-1, 1-0) is off to its best start since 1974-75 when it opened 15-1 on the way to a 25-4 record. ... The Sun Devils shot 59 percent from the field at Stanford and lead the Pac - 10 at 51.5 percent. ... Sophomore guard James Harden (23.2 ppg) has scored more than 30 points on four occasions. He also boasts a 12-rebound outing and two games with 10 assists. ... Senior Jeff Pendergraph is averaging 14.2 ppg after scoring 31 at Stanford.

-- Jeff Faraudo

PAC - 10 men

Conference Overall

W L W L

Cal 1 0 12 2

Arizona St. 1 0 12 1

UCLA 1 0 11 2

USC 1 0 10 3

Washington 1 0 10 3

Stanford 0 1 10 1

Washington St. 0 1 8 5

Arizona 0 1 9 4

Oregon 0 1 6 7

Oregon St. 0 1 5 6

Saturday's game

Washington 68, Washington St. 48

Today's games

Arizona St. at Cal, 5 p.m.

Arizona at Stanford, 7 p.m.

UCLA at Oregon, 12:30 p.m.

USC at Oregon St., 2:30 p.m.

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