Cal vs. Arizona: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season

The No. 18 Arizona Wildcats erased a late eight-point deficit to defeat the No. 25 California Golden Bears, 64-61, on Thursday at the McKale Center.   

NCAA March Madness noted the victory for Arizona, who lost to Cal earlier in the season:

Ryan Anderson and Kaleb Tarczewski both had double-doubles, but it was senior Gabe York who was the hero. His three-pointer with 20 seconds left gave him a game-high 19 points and capped an 11-0 Arizona run to give the Wildcats the lead with the eventual winning score, via NCAA March Madness:

Cal looked to have won the game late on the strength of freshman Ivan Rabb, who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. He also hit his first three-pointer of the season at the 3:24 mark of the second half to give his team a 54-50 lead. 

However, it was another three-pointer that seemed to break Arizona's back. Junior Jordan Mathews' deep trey in front of his bench pushed the lead to 59-53 with 2:19 remaining, via Cal Men's Basketball:

The Bears would push the lead to 61-53 with 1:55 to play but never scored again.

York and the Wildcats completely shut down the Bears the rest of the way. The guard had an interesting night—he did not record any other stat outside of his points—but none of that mattered, as Jeff Borzello of ESPN noted:

It was a close first half as the Bears, who came in with the nation's second-longest winning streak at seven games behind the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, led by four after 20 minutes. Cal freshman Jaylen Brown got his team off to a good start with this shot-clock buzzer-beater, via Cal Men's Basketball:

Both teams were protecting the rim well, as shown by Arizona Athletics and Cal Men's Basketball:

However, Mathews showed he could get to the rim when he needed to, even if it did take a bit of a circus shot, via Cal Men's Basketball:

Arizona jumped ahead early with an 8-2 run to start the second half on the strength of York's six points following a scoreless first half, via Arizona Athletics:

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star noticed York's hot stretch:

The Bears tied the game at 37 on this tough basket by Brown, and it was back and forth most of the way until Cal took its eight-point lead it would eventually blow, via Cal Men's Basketball:

It was a big win for Arizona, which had lost two in a row. As ESPN announcer Dave Pasch mentioned during the broadcast, it avoided its first three-game losing streak in nearly six years. It moved the Wildcats into a tie with Cal for third place in the Pac-12 standings at 11-6.

Neither team can win the conference, as the Oregon Ducks sit at 13-4, but late-season wins are big when it comes to building confidence for the postseason.

This was Cal's first loss since Jan. 31, and while it's not a bad loss by any stretch, it would have been a marquee road victory that no doubt would have helped the Bears' NCAA tournament seed. They'll have to go on the road and defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday to avoid a two-game losing streak heading into Pac-12 tournament play.

Postgame Reaction

Arizona head coach Sean Miller didn’t wait for the press conference to give his thoughts on the game, tweeting out thanks to a crowd that never gave up on his team:

"

What a great win! What a crowd! Thanks to the best fans in college basketball for a great atmosphere! #BearDown

— Sean Miller (@UACoachMiller) March 4, 2016"

Former Oklahoma State Cowboys point guard and CBS Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb praised Miller for his late-game substitutions:

York talked about getting a much-needed victory after two-straight losses in an interview with SportsCenter, via ESPN.com: “It was very important for all of us. I think we all worked very hard over a week of practice…The guys responded in a very good fashion.”

As good of a win as it was for Arizona, it was an even worse loss for the Bears. After head coach Cuonzo Martin’s talented, but young, team was 14-8 and on the NCAA tournament bubble, it got hot and had a real chance at eight wins in a row before falling apart late.

Seth Davis of CBSSports.com noted just how bad it was:

And it wasn’t just the loss but how it happened, per Jeff Faraudo of Bay Area News Group:

It was all jubilation in the other locker room, as Miller talked about what it meant for the senior York, per ESPN.com:

"The different people saying that at the end of the game Gabe hasn't necessarily come through, that maybe you need to give the ball to somebody else, et cetera," Miller said. "He looked pretty good at the end of the game tonight, and he's done it more times than you realize."