Cal repped the Pac 12 very well over the long weekend

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ANAHEIM, Ca. – Less than an hour or so later, 40 minutes or so west, a couple of Pacific 12 Conference programs suffered losses on their home courts.

But, during the championship game of the DirecTV Classic, another team representing the conference took care of business in most efficient fashion.

Coach Mike Montgomery’s California Golden Bears played a mostly outstanding 40 minutes while improving to 6-0 with their 78-58 victory over the Pacific Tigers of the Big West Conference.

The Tigers were outstanding while upsetting first Xavier (70-67) and then Saint Mary’s (76-66) in the first two rounds of the eight-team tournament.

Cal played just well enough over stretches of their games with Drake (trailing by nine points in the second half before prevailing, 73-70) and Georgia Tech (pulling away down the stretch, 68-57) to get to Sunday night’s final.

But there were nary a bit of suspense involved in the title game, with the Golden Bears pushing to a 27-10 advantage.

The Tigers got to within six points with about 7 ½ minutes remaining but guards Allen Crabbe (24), Justin Cobbs (20) and Brandon Smith (11), who combined for just three fewer than the points that the Tigers manufactured, sparked the final spurt that doused any comeback aspirations.

Surely there are going to be more difficult challenges for Montgomery’s team than he received during the event held, literally, across the street from Disneyland in the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

There’s a two-week stretch – beginning on Dec. 2 – when the Golden Bears travel to Madison to play the University of Wisconsin and then when they play host to nationally ranked squads from Creighton and UNLV.

It appears to be a stronger Pac 12 this season, despite the (stunning) loss UCLA suffered in Westwood Sunday night to Cal Poly and the third defeat in six games, at the hands of visiting San Diego State, the USC Trojans endured at the same time.

Colorado (5-0 with eye-catching decisions against Baylor and Murray State) and Arizona (3-0 but yet to be seriously test) join Golden Bears among the ranks of the unbeaten, and Oregon’s only loss came to nationally ranked Cincinnati, 24 hours after the Ducks had toppled UNLV in Las Vegas Friday evening.

In Cobbs (in his second season as a starter after transferring from Minnesota), Crabbe (the top non-freshman NBA prospect in the conference) and Smith (who joined the program as a walk-on), as well as freshman Tyrone Wallace, Montgomery has a backcourt that would hold up admirably in any matchup with any group of guards collegiately.

But Cal’s ability to make a serious run at a Pac 12 title – as well as, say, a trek to the second week of the NCAA Tournament in March – will be enhanced greatly if posts Richard Solomon, David Kravish and Robert Thurman (who, like Brandon Smith, enrolled in Berkeley as non-scholarship athletes) play as well in December, January, February and March as they did during three games over four days in Orange County.