California 81, San Jose St. 36
Allen Crabbe scored 18 points, Justin Cobbs had 10 points and five assists in his second straight start and California beat San Jose State 81-36 on Wednesday night.
Jorge Gutierrez added 14 points for the Golden Bears, who scored 15 unanswered points in the first half to take a lead that was never challenged.
Cal (7-2) was knocked out of the Top 25 this week after a 66-63 loss to San Diego State on Sunday but had no problem containing the Spartans (3-6) in the first meeting between the two schools in more than six years.
The Bears led by as much as 46, limited San Jose State to 20.3 percent shooting and held a 52-32 rebounding advantage.
Wil Carter scored 13 points for San Jose State.
It was the perfect bounce-back game for Cal and allowed coach Mike Montgomery to clear his bench and give his starters a rest after playing them most of the way in the loss at San Diego State.
That loss, the Bears second in four games, dropped them out of the rankings for the first time this season.
Crabbe helped Cal get back on track, going 7 of 12 from the floor and adding five rebounds.
Cobbs also gave the Bears a boost in his second straight start. The sophomore guard, who sat out last year after transferring from Minnesota and began this year on the bench, scored all 10 of his points in the first half and had four early assists when Cal built a 28-point lead.
The Bears kept rolling after halftime and led 77-31 on reserve Jeff Powers' 3-pointer.
San Jose State, which lost Calvin Douglas to an injury in the first half, struggled the entire game and remained winless on the road.
The Spartans scored only 15 points in the first half, had only one player score in the first 18 minutes and finished with its lowest point total of the season.
Cal improved to 19-3 all-time against San Jose State and to 6-0 this season at Haas Pavilion.
Cobbs had assists on three consecutive trips down the floor, two to Gutierrez, as part of a 15-0 run early in the first half. Cobbs later scored seven points during a 15-2 spurt to push Cal's lead to 28.
The Bears continued to run against the smaller, slower Spartans and had three players - Crabbe, Cobbs and Gutierrez - in double figures by halftime.
Carter had the Spartans first 11 points before Keith Shamburger's short jumper with 1:46 remaining before halftime. Shamburger added two free throws but Crabbe's fast break layup gave Cal a 43-15 lead at intermission.