Chris Bell’s career night helped second-seeded Cal extinguish Illinois-Chicago 91-73 in the first round of the NIT’s Albuquerque region Wednesday night in Berkeley, Calif.
Bell’s career-best 31 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, including 7 of 8 from behind the arc, was more than enough for the Bears (22-11) in front of their home crowd. Justin Pippen chipped in 18 points and six assists while John Camden had 13 points.
Cal will next face St. Joseph’s, which beat Colorado State 69-64 on Wednesday.
The Flames (19-16) put up a valiant effort but it wasn’t enough. Rashund Washington Jr. had 15 points and six rebounds, while Abdul Momoh and Elijah Crawford each had 14 points.
Crawford finished with a game-high 12 assists.
Cal extended its lead to double digits for the first time on a step-back 3-pointer from Pippen with 12:18 left to push the lead to 59-48.
The Flames made the game more manageable with a 10-2 run capped by a tip-in second-chance layup from Mekhi Lowery to cut the deficit to 63-60 with 7:25 left.
But the Bears used an 18-9 run to put the game out of reach, with Washington and Bell hitting 3s to make it 81-69 with 3:17 to go.
Cal shot 32-for-57 (56.1%) from the field and 15-for-28 from 3-point range (53.6%). UIC couldn’t hang from deep, shooting just 4 of 15 (26.7%). The Flames shot 50.9% overall (29-for-57).
The Flames jumped out to a nine-point lead after holding Cal to 2-for-8 shooting to start the game. Crawford hit a 3-pointer and Lowery hit a layup on the break to bring the lead to 15-6 with 14:34 left in the first half.
The Bears made nine of their next 13 shots to cut the deficit to 30-28 after a jumper from Bell.
Cal used a 9-0 scoring run right before the half to take its first lead, closed by a fastbreak 3 from Bell with 61 seconds left. Washington made a dunk for UIC with 25 seconds left to make it 39-35 Cal at the break.
Bell made 5 of 6 shots in the first half to lead the Bears with 13 points, while Crawford paced the Flames with 10.
–Field Level Media
