As most of you should know by now, Cal lost 88-66 to UCLA. The game wasn’t even really as close as the final score. In the first 10 minutes the Bears just struggled to get the ball up the court, committing 10 turnovers in their first 19 possessions. Darren Collison’s hounding defense, coupled with some big minutes from Lorenzo Mata-Real in the first half on the defensive end (he had four blocks for the game) allowed the Bruins to rack up easy transition buckets and give themselves a big cushion going into halftime.

That might’ve been the last time we see Ryan Anderson in a Cal uniform, unless the Bears are invited to the NIT or the CBI (whatever that is) on Sunday. Anderson scored 15 points and grabbed seven boards in what might have been his collegiate finale, but he never really got going.After the game, he talked a lot about how Cal’s poor shot selection doomed it against the defensive-minded Bruins.

“Shot selection” might be code for “I didn’t get enough touches,” which is a fact. The Pac-10’s leading scorer needs to take more than 10 shots for the Bears to be competitive.

It also may have been the last time coach Ben Braun leads Cal from the sidelines. It is obviously still up in the air whether Anderson or Braun return, but I can guarantee that Sandy Barbour will do a lot of thinking in the offseason to determine if a 6-12 Pac-10 record and a blowout in the Pac-10 quarterfinals should merit being able to continue his job.

Anderson and DeVon Hardin really did not seem all that dejected after the game. Even though they talked all week about avenging last Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, they did not seem particularly surprised by the lopsided result at Staples Center.Part of that reason is UCLA really is just THAT good.

Collison may be the most efficient point guard in the country on both ends of the court, Russell Westbrook plays hounding defense and can create his own shot, Kevin Love is a great rebounder who can also stroke the rock (he hit threes of 3 consecutive possessions at the start of the second half) and the group is battle-tested to make a big run.Tomorrow’s UCLA-USC game for Los Angeles supremacy will undoubtedly be an exciting show. You’ll hear more about that in the future!