Despite being held scoreless for the first 15 minute of play, Saunders tallied 18 points—13 of which came in the second period.

Saunders' offensive production came in spite of the fact that he was tasked with defending the Pac-12’s leading scorer, 6’6” guard Allen Crabbe, who entered the contest averaging 20.4 points per game. In 40 minutes, Crabbe put up 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting.

“[Saunders’] assignment was to the best he could on Crabbe,” Amaker said. “We told him we weren’t going to be concerned with the offensive production, but we needed to see the defensive efficiency and concentration on that end, and I thought he set the tone for us there.”

Even with his focus on the defensive end, Saunders managed to come up with a number of critical baskets for the Crimson.

After the Bears knotted the game at 46 with 9:49 to go, Saunders poured in seven points in just 80 seconds.

After scoring back-to-back baskets in the paint, Saunders—who entered the contest with just eight three-point attempts in 10 contests—capped off the run with a three-pointer from the right wing that put the Crimson up five, 53-48, with 8:12 remaining.

“That one was going up regardless,” Saunders said of the three-point attempt. “Luckily I knocked it down.”

Following four straight points from Crabbe the Bears managed to even the score at 58 with 4:33 to go, but the Crimson once again responded to the threat. This time Rivard came up big, drilling a corner three off a bounce from Chambers with the shot clock expiring.

The Bears made one last push, as Crabbe hit two free throws and Kravish finished a layup on two-straight possessions to give Cal its first advantage since scoring the contest’s opening basket.

“This was a great team win,” Saunders said. “Hopefully it can propel our team to the next level."

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.