^By JANIE McCAULEY<<
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)—Freshman Marquise Kately scored a season-high 18 points and sparked an impressive second-half run to lead California to its third straight home win, 80-55 over Wyoming on Tuesday night.
Golden Bears guard Richard Midgley didn’t start after having a wisdom tooth removed Sunday, but came off the bench to score 13 points. Leon Powe added 12 points and Ayinde Ubaka 10.
Mory Correa had 22 points—making 12 of 13 free throws—and seven rebounds for Wyoming (3-3), which was held to its lowest scoring total of the season after coming in averaging 77.8 points per game. Correa fouled out with 3:51 left.
The Bears (3-3), who start three freshmen and a sophomore, have struggled from the field. They were shooting 38 percent entering the game and finished 39 percent (24-for-61), including 29.4 percent in the first half.
Kately had eight points as Cal began the second half with a 21-7 spurt to take control for good against the Cowboys, who went cold from the field. Amit Tamir’s 3-pointer with 14:05 left made it 53-39.
It was the fifth meeting ever between the teams and the first in nearly 22 years. This was the most lopsided in the series—the previous four all were decided by five points or fewer.
Cal, playing its last game before an 11-day break for final exams, faced a team from the Mountain West Conference for the third time this season. And they’ve all been close: The Bears beat BYU at home 47-46 and lost at UNLV 59-57.
Wyoming’s Jay Straight easily dribbled through Cal’s full-court man press early, but the Bears used a 15-0 run to turn a 20-11 deficit into a 26-20 lead 7:04 before halftime.
Cal began the game 4-of-15 and allowed the Cowboys to get to the free throw line eight times in the first 8 1/2 minutes. There were 15 fouls called in the first 10 minutes of the half, two offensive against the Bears. Wyoming had 15 first-half turnovers.
Four of the top freshmen from the state of California were on the court: Wyoming’s Mikel Watson of San Diego, Powe and Ubaka of Oakland and Kately of San Francisco.