Both Arizona and Cal had a rough start during Saturday's game at McKale Center.
After about five minutes of action Cal was still scoreless and the Wildcats only had four points with three of them being scored by point guard James Akinjo.
What eventually managed to spark Arizona on the court was the energy coming from the bench. Once they seemed more comfortable, the Wildcats were able to get more players involved on the offensive side of the floor leading to a what was became a 17-point lead late in the first half.
The Wildcats (13-4, 7-4 Pac-12) never looked back and built what was a 29-point lead during a couple different stretches ultimately ending with a 71-50 victory over the Golden Bears (7-12, 2-10).
Akinjo was a big part of Saturday's win for UA as he led the team with 20 points and eight assists in one of his best performances for the Wildcats. More importantly he did not have a single turnover for the first time all season.
UA head coach Sean Miller said he believed it was the top performance he has seen from the redshirt sophomore point guard during his time with the Wildcats. Miller said Akinjo's high assist total and low turnover number was proof he was "in total command of the game" on Saturday.
"I don't know if this is my best game, but I'm just continuing to work on my game," Akinjo said. "My teammates they make it real easy for me. So all credit to our preparation, my coaches and my teammates, that allowed me to have this great performance."
Arizona was a more aggressive and smarter team on offense than what it showed against Stanford in a loss Thursday night. The Wildcats racked up a total of 18 turnovers during that game against the Cardinal.
Miller mentioned after that game during the press conference that giving the ball away was part of his team's downfall. Against Cal the Wildcats cut that number to 12 and had improved defense on the other end of the floor.
"We just picked a bad game to be bad in those areas (offense and defense) and we've addressed that and we talked about it," Miller said about Arizona's performance against Stanford. "And I just thought today regardless of the final score we were overall much better."
Another aspect of the game Arizona improved upon was its play in the front court. The Wildcats struggled around the basket in the loss Thursday night allowing Stanford to control the paint. Saturday the team was able to flip that around on Cal as UA finished the day with 34-18 edge in points in the paint.
Rebounding was another area in which every big man got involved Saturday against Cal. Ira Lee, Azuolas Tubelis, and Christian Koloko all led the way with 6 as the Wildcats ended the game with a total of 33.
Nearly every player who saw time on the court Saturday contributed to the game in some way as Arizona finished with four players in double figures. Tubelis (12), Jordan Brown (12) and Bennedict Mathurin (10) all reached double-digit points in Saturday's win joining Akinjo.
UA had at least six players that scored a minimum of seven points in the victory over Cal.
"When we are really playing together as a team, playing both sides defense, offense, I believe we have he ability to beat any team on our schedule," Miller said. "Tonight was one of our best performances, and I thought James led the way."
Arizona hasn't lost to the Bears at home since the 2012-2013 season, adding yet another game onto their winning streak over Cal at McKale Center that now sits at seven consecutive victories. The Wildcats have won 13 of their last 14 meetings against the Bay Area school.
Next up will for Arizona will be a trip to the Mountain schools beginning with a game against Utah on Thursday at 5 p.m. MST.
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