Cal Basketball: This One Was Over Early - Golden Bears Fall 97-60 at USC

Cal’s 10th straight defeat was decided early.

USC scored the game’s first 13 points and led 50-23 at halftime on the way to a 97-60 rout of the Bears on Thursday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Cal (3-23, 2-13 Pac-12) hasn’t won since a Jan. 6 victory over Stanford and things get no easier on Saturday. The Bears trek to Pauley Pavilion to face No. 4 UCLA, an opponent that has beaten them 10 times in a row.

Coach Mark Fox, asked on his postgame radio show whether the Bears should simply "flush" this defeat and move on to the Bruins, gave a pointed response.

“It’s just like the season — you don’t flush it, you’ve got to value the misery," he said. "You’ve got to go through the fire. So when eventually you are ready, you’ll battle like crazy because you have been through it and been burned.”

Cal dropped to 0-9 in road games and 0-11 away from home this season. The Bears’ most recent win away from Berkeley was last Feb. 12 at Oregon — 369 days ago.

The Bears’ losing streak to USC also stands at 10 games after a performance that was sadly lacking on both ends of the floor.

Fox said the Bears' inability to defend gave them no chance.

“I’m very disappointed in the defensive performance," he said. "We weren’t ready to play defensively - allowing 50 points in the first half and 47 in the second. You can’t win that way. I didn’t have them ready to play defense tonight.”

In the first half — after which nothing really mattered — USC (18-8, 10-5) shot 62 percent and the Bears converted 24 percent with 10 turnovers.

Cal opened the game by shooting 0 for 7 with four turnovers on its first eight possessions. USC, which badly needed this game after being swept on a trip to Oregon last weekend, scored 10 points off Cal turnovers in the first half and outscored the Bears 14-0 on fastbreak points.

The second half provided no relief. Cal got no closer than 24 points after intermission, and the Trojans led by as many as 40.

USC guard Drew Peterson, who shot 12 for 34 the previous three games, lit up the Bears for a career-high 30 points on 9-for-14 accuracy, and added seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Boogie Ellis scored 22 points and had four 3-point baskets. The Trojans entered the game shooting 31.5 percent from deep, then converted a season-best 52 percent on 12 for 23.

USC outscored Cal 36-15 from the arc and 36-16 in the paint. The Trojans scored 18 fast break points while the Bears had zero.

Monty Bowser, coming off a career-high 14 points on Saturday against Arizona State, followed that up with 13 points but shot just 3 for 11 from the field. Bowser actually saw some action at point guard - a position he hasn't played all season in a game or practice - after starter Joel Brown fouled out with 8 minutes left.

"“Monty tried to compete," Fox said, "but he needs some help."

Kuany Kuany scored 11 points for the Bears, only two of them in the first half. Freshman big man ND Okafor also scored 11 points.

Cover photo of Monty Bowser by CK Hicks, Cal Athletics

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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