Cal men hold off Wyoming to stay perfect at home

BERKELEY — Tyrone Wallace scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, including an emphatic dunk with 22.7 seconds left, and California overcame a sluggish night offensively to beat Wyoming 45-42 on Wednesday night.

Christian Behrens added a career-high 12 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Bears, who extended their best start in 13 years.

Cal (8-1) shot just 35.3 percent and rarely scored on consecutive possessions until pulling away late.

Wallace made consecutive 3-pointers and Behrens added a three-point play to give the Bears a 39-32 lead.

Larry Nance Jr. scored seven straight for Wyoming but missed two jumpers in the final two minutes.

Wyoming also turned the ball over twice late, leading to Wallace's slam and a game-sealing layup by Sam Singer.

Nance had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Wyoming (8-2).

The Bears have won four straight since losing to No. 10 Texas 71-56 on Nov. 21 despite being without injured guard Jabari Bird for the last three games.

Cal had not played Wyoming since 2003. Both teams were sloppy in the first half and scored just 31 points combined.

Cal led only twice, shot 26.1 percent from the floor and missed five of their final six shots with two turnovers in the final seven minutes of the half.

Wyoming wasn't much better.

The Cowboys went 2 of 10 on 3-pointers and committed seven turnovers in the first half. Nance, who didn't score for the game's first seven minutes, had a pair of dunks including an emphatic one-hander that put Wyoming up 16-15 at the end of the first half.

Cal's Jabari Bird missed his third consecutive game with a foot injury.

Sam Singer started in place of Bird and had two points and three assists.

The Bears play their next six games at home and won't go on the road until Jan. 7 when they play at USC.