TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. It took a little while, but the Wildcats seem to have their groove back -- just at the right time. Coming off two solid road wins, No. 3 Arizona played one of its best games of the season -- certainly since Ashley went down -- quickly turning its rematch with Cal into an 87-59 rout Wednesday night. Nick Johnson had 22 points after struggling against Cal the first time and Kaleb Tarczewski added 16 points for the Wildcats, who pulled out a tough win at Utah and routed Colorado last week. "Obviously, we played very well tonight, one of our best games of the season," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "You might make the argument that the game against Colorado and tonights game were the best back-to-back games weve played all season." Cal won the first meeting 60-58 on a last-second jumper by Justin Cobbs that sent the students pouring onto the court. Arizona (26-2, 13-2 Pac-12) ran away from the Bears early in the rematch, using a big first-half run and good shooting all game to prevent the season sweep. T.J. McConnell finished with 13 points and six assists, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson provided a lift off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson also had seven rebounds and five assists after scoring four points on 1-of-14 shooting the first game against Cal. "It feels good right now," said McConnell, who has 22 assists and one turnover the past three games. "Were shooting the ball well and when we do that, were tough to beat." Cal (18-10, 9-6), struggled at times against Arizonas defensive pressure and had little chance of stopping the Wildcats at the other end to lose for the 17th time in 19 games at McKale Center. Arizona shot 50 per cent against the Bears and had a 42-25 rebounding advantage, including 15 on the offensive glass. Cobbs led Cal with 12 points. "Theyre good; you have to give credit where credit is due," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "They were solid and a little angry having lost to us. Theyre making shots now and at our place they werent making all their shots. Theyre playing really well right now." Arizona wanted a little revenge after what happened in the first meeting against Cal. The Wildcats entered the Feb. 1 game with the No. 1 ranking and a school-record 21-game winning streak. They left Berkeley with their first loss of the season -- thanks to Cobbs stepback jumper with 0.9 seconds left -- and Ashley in a walking boot after he injured his right foot going up for a rebound in the first half. Ashley is done for the season, but Arizona has found ways to win without him, picking up three victories in four games, including Sundays 88-61 blowout at Colorado. The Wildcats started slowly in the rematch against Cal, opening 1 for 6 to miss more shots in the first 3 1-2 minutes than they did the entire half against Colorado (22 for 26). Once they got rolling, the Bears couldnt keep up. Triggered by its defence, Arizona went on a 12-2 run, building its lead to 39-23 on a series of steals and dunks. Johnson had one dunk in transition after a steal and Aaron Gordon had another, racing off for a head-above-the-rim reverse dunk that triggered a roar inside McKale Center. Hollis-Jefferson had a high-flying dunk on an alley-oop pass on an inbounds play, then threw down a tomahawk in transition after Johnson tracked down Cobbs to block his layup from behind at the other end. Arizona made 18 of 36 shots to lead 44-29 at halftime. Johnson had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, four rebounds and three assists while leading the top of Arizonas defence with McConnell at the top. "Its always good when everybody is hitting shots," Johnson said. "Whenever you hit a shot, it feels good and you hit a few in a row, its great for your confidence." The Wildcats quickly built the lead to 20 points in the second half, but Cal showed a little resiliency, going on an 11-0 run that cut Arizonas lead to 53-44. That was as close as the Bears would get. Arizona turned up the pressure again, McConnell hit a 3-pointer in transition and Gordon soared in for another dunk, putting the Wildcats back comfortably ahead, 70-52. "We cant afford a 15-point deficit against a team like Arizona," Cobbs said. "We played well for a stretch and cut the lead by eight, but they executed well on offence and I give them credit." Tre Boston Youth Jersey . The veteran right-hander went out and provided a promising flashback performance against the New York Yankees, even after another leadoff homer by Brett Gardner. The Rangers clinched their first series in a month with a 3-2 victory Wednesday night. Frank Alexander Panthers Jersey . -- Marcus Mariota is more concerned about his Oregon teammates than he is about his knee. http://www.thepanthersjerseyprostore.com/panthers-luke-kuechly-blue-jersey/ . According to MLB.com the Rays have agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal to bring back first baseman James Loney. Cam Newton Youth Jersey . A year later, he was out of job. Phil Jackson fired Woodson and the entire coaching staff on Monday, making his first big move since becoming team president in March and saying in a statement that "the time has come for change throughout the franchise. Dwan Edwards Youth Jersey . Louis Blues. The Capitals did themselves no favors with a recent 0-3-2 skid that was finally snapped with Saturdays 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Islanders.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- James van Riemsdyk had at least one point on his stick with 44 seconds left. With plenty of net to shoot at, the Toronto Maple Leafs winger-turned-centre wouldve scored had it not been for Buffalo Sabres defenceman Christian Ehrhoff getting in the way. Van Riemsdyk was left to shake his head as offensive production continued to desert the Leafs in a 3-1 loss Friday night at First Niagara Center. "That was a heck of a play by him. He made a good read and sacrificed his body for it," van Riemsdyk said. "I guess we are not getting those bounces right now, but weve got to keep fighting for it." The Leafs did plenty of fighting on an emotional night in Buffalo that marked the start of the Pat LaFontaine era as president of hockey operations and Ted Nolans return as coach after a 16-year break. They outshot an opponent for just the third time all season and the first time since Oct. 5, but Marcus Folignos goal stood up as the game-winner. Coach Randy Carlyle and goaltender Jonathan Bernier pointed to losing the special-teams battle as the reason for the loss. Steve Ott scored on the power play for the Sabres, while the Leafs went 0-for-3 to fall to 2-for-12 on the power play in their past five games. Its no coincidence theyre 1-3 in that time and that the one victory came in a shootout, but theres more to these offensive woes. The Leafs have just four goals in their past four games, and just two at even strength after Trevor Smith scored in Buffalo. "Were just not getting the results," Carlyle said. "Weve had chances, we had glorious opportunities. Its just that right now were squeezing the sticks or were getting hit in the shaft or players making a big stop." The biggest stop came when Ehrhoff got in the way of van Riemsdyks shot, which couldve been his first since moving to centre after Dave Bollands injury in Vancouver on Nov. 2. Tyler Bozaks long-standing hamstring injury already tested the Leafs depth down the middle, and Nazem Kadris three-game suspension for elbowing Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom compounded the problem. Smith, called up from the AHLs Marlies to replace Kadri in the lineup, scored his second goal of the season on his fifth shot in the second period. It wasnt the prettiest goal, but it was something. "I just tried to get it off as quick as I can," Smith said. "I think it hit a D-man in front and went in, but well take em where we can get em." The Leafs will take it, but theyd also benefit from their top offensive players scoring. Joffrey Lupul, Mason Raymond and Phil Kessel each scored once in the previous three games, but it has proven to be not nearly enough. "Its a long season, theres ebbs and flows a bit," van Riemsdyk said. "Were going to keep with the same approach: just getting a lot of pucks to the net. Were getting some good chances, weve just got to start burying them." Meanwhile, the Leafs have been counting on their goaltending to keep them in games..dddddddddddd The crossbar helped Bernier a bit as he struggled to track the puck. "It was a tough game for me," said Bernier, who made 24 saves on 26 shots. "They tipped a lot of pucks, especially in the first, and they had a lot of presence up front. They played well. They worked really hard and they kept it simple." Perhaps that could serve as a blueprint for the Leafs, starting Saturday when they host the Sabres at Air Canada Centre. Carlyle liked his teams effort and worth ethic on the road, but he lamented a lack of second opportunities. "The one thing that we could do is we could shoot the puck," Carlyle said. "Put the puck towards the net and drive people towards the net. Shoot the puck. Dont try to be so fine. It seems like were trying to pick the top corners, theyre trying to pick spots where we should be just concentrating on quicker release, get pucks directed at the net, have that second and third opportunity. And I think wed be rewarded." Van Riemsdyk shouldve been rewarded in the games final minute. With Bernier off for an extra attacker, the Leafs got their best chance of the night with goaltender Ryan Miller likely unable to get over in time. Foligno called Ehrhoffs block "something special." "It was just desperation," Ehrhoff said. "I know (Miller) was just on the other side of the net and the puck came out to van Riemsdyk and I just tried to make myself as big as I can, and I got the save." Just 12 seconds later Ehrhoff iced the game by scoring an empty-netter from his own goal line. "It brings a smile to my face," Miller said. "Christian Ehrhoff had the play of the game and saved our butts and then he put it away. It was a great turn of events there to watch him make that play on the back side, have great awareness to find it and help me out then get it down the ice and split the uprights." The Sabres gave Nolan his first NHL head-coaching victory since 2008 and first behind the bench for Buffalo since 1997. "You know what? I cant even put it into words," he said. "It was one of those games where you didnt know where this type of day would ever happen again. It was really very emotional. Ill have a good cry after everybody leaves." Bernier believed the Leafs deserved "a better fate" than a regulation loss, but Carlyle doesnt want his players crying about falling short against the Sabres. "We cant get down on what happened tonight," Carlyle said. "They dont feel very good about themselves, but its about results-oriented and thats what happens. But I thought our work ethic was strong, we did a lot of good things in the hockey game and were going to have to continue to work on that." Notes -- Rookie defenceman Morgan Rielly was a healthy scratch for the second time in three games and fourth time this season. When he played Wednesday at the Minnesota Wild, the Leafs dressed seven defencemen. ... Folignos goal was his seventh point in seven career games against Toronto. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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