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California looks to establish its longest home winning streak since moving into Haas Pavilion in 1999 when it hosts Pac-10 rival UCLA on Saturday.
The 25th-ranked Golden Bears (13-2, 6-0 Pac-10) tied the previous mark with their 14th straight home win on Thursday, beating Southern California 73-68.
California is 26-1 in Berkeley over the last two seasons, including its current run, which includes nine home wins this season.
The Bears' win over USC came on a night when the Trojans held California's big three of Joe Shipp, Amit Tamir and Brian Wethers to just 35 points, 17.5 below their combined season average.
Richard Midgley, a freshman guard from England, scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Bears to their seventh straight victory overall.
``We needed other guys to step up and that's just what Richard did,'' California coach Ben Braun said. ``He's a very tough-minded kid and he has a penchant to make big plays during tough circumstances.''
Midgley made half of his 16 shots, including four 3-pointers, and had his biggest basket off an offensive rebound with 44.6 seconds left, giving the Bears a 71-68 lead.
``The competition isn't quite what it is here,'' said Midgley, who twice scored 96 points in a game at the age of 14 in England. ``I shot every time I had the ball then.''
The success at home is one reason why California is off to its best start since legendary Cal coach Pete Newell's 1959-60 squad went 28-2 en route to an NCAA runner-up finish. The 6-0 start in conference play is the Bears' best since the 1956-57 season, when they began 10-0 under Newell in the old Pacific Coast Conference.
Cal will host a UCLA team that has lost five straight since winning its first two Pac-10 contests. The Bruins (4-10, 2-4) won at Washington and Washington State to open conference play, but they've since suffered losses to USC, St. John's, Arizona State, No. 1 Arizona and Stanford.
The 52-51 loss to Stanford on Thursday gave UCLA its first five-game losing streak since the 1947-48 season, the year before coach John Wooden took over.
UCLA holds a 118-90 lead in the all-time series, but the Bears won two of the three meetings last season, including a 67-61 victory in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament.
The teams conclude their season series Feb. 20 in Los Angeles.
Updated on Friday, Jan 24, 2003 7:46 pm, EST
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