Ballo's double-double leads No. 11 Arizona past California

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Oumar Ballo scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Keshad Johnson added 15 points and No. 11 Arizona rolled to a 91-65 win over California on Thursday night.

Arizona (16-5, 7-3 Pac-12) never trailed, jumping out to a 29-11 lead by midway through the first half. The 7-foot, 260-pound Ballo scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds during that opening stretch.

The Wildcats took a 48-28 halftime lead after shooting 56% from the field and outrebounding the Golden Bears 25-11.

California (8-13, 4-6) cut the margin to 15 points early in the second half, but couldn't get any closer. Caleb Love's 3-pointer with 12:30 left pushed the Wildcats back up by 22.

Ballo hit all eight of his shots from the field and had six offensive rebounds, doing all his work in just 22 minutes. He became the 54th player in program history to pass 1,000 career points, hitting the mark early in the first half.

KJ Lewis scored 14 points off the bench while Love added 12.

The Golden Bears were led by Jalen Celestine's 13 points while Rodney Brown Jr. had 12. Jaylon Tyson added 10 points and 10 rebounds. They shot just 7 of 28 (25%) from 3-point range.

Arizona improved to 11-0 at home this season. The Wildcats swept the season series from the Golden Bears, beating them 100-81 on the road last month.

BIG PICTURE

California: The Golden Bears have been a pleasant surprise in the Pac-12 under first-year coach Mark Madsen, winning four of their previous six games before Thursday. They simply ran into a buzzsaw in Tucson, falling into an early hole in a tough road environment.

Arizona: The Wildcats remain in first place in a crowded Pac-12 race. Arizona's muddled through some inconsistent play over the past month, but there's little doubt that when it's rolling, the offense possesses ability that few other teams in the country can match.

UP NEXT

California: At Arizona State on Saturday.

Arizona: Host Stanford on Sunday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball