BERKELEY, Calif. — Joel Brown scored 21 points, freshman Grant Newell posted his first double-double and California held on for an 80-76 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
Brown sank 9 of 14 shots with a 3-pointer for the Golden Bears (2-13, 1-3 Pac-12). Newell finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Lars Thiemann had 12 points, Kuany Kuany scored 11 and DeJuan Clayton scored 10 with three assists.
Thiemann scored all his points in the first half — sinking 4 of 6 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws — to guide the Golden Bears to a 39-27 lead at halftime.
Cal, which led for all but 26 seconds of the first half, shot 58% from the floor (15 of 26) and made 4 of 5 from 3-point range. The Buffaloes shot 40% overall but hit just 1 of 12 from beyond the arc before intermission.
Brown and Clayton scored five points apiece to open the second half and the Golden Bears upped their lead to 49-33 with 14:25 remaining. Sam Alajiki made two free throws to put Cal up 74-56 with 2:14 left to play before the Buffaloes rallied.
Simpson had a three-point play, a 3-pointer and a layup and Hadley followed with a layup and a dunk to pull the Buffs within 74-68 with 48 seconds left. Simpson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 79-76 with six seconds to go, but Brown made the second of two free throws to wrap up the win.
Simpson paced Colorado (9-6, 1-3) with 25 points and five assists. J'Vonne Hadley scored 17 on 8-of-11 shooting.
Cal has won two of its last three games after a 0-12 start. Colorado saw a five-game win streak end.
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