NCAA tournament: No. 8 California pulls away from No. 9 Louisville for a 77-62 victory

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Jerome Randle and Theo Robertson scored 21 points apiece and eighth-seeded California squandered most of a seemingly comfortable lead before pulling away to 77-62 victory over ninth-seeded Louisville on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Golden Bears (24-10), who played without suspended starting forward Omondi Amoke, advance to the second round Sunday against top-seeded Duke, a 73-44 winner over 16th-seeded Arkansas Pine Bluff earlier today.

Cal led by as many as 18 points in the first half. Louisville trimmed the deficit to 62-58 with more than 7 minutes to go, but Robertson’s three-pointer steadied the Golden Bears and the Pac-10 champions were able to finish the job by making all seven of their free throws in the final minutes.

Cal closed the game on a 15-4 run.

-- Associated Press

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