California tops Princeton 62-51 in Pearl Harbor Invitational

HONOLULU -- This time last year Charlie Moore was in the midst of his senior season of high school.

What a difference a year makes.

Moore, a freshman point guard, scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures to help California pull away from Princeton 62-51 in the Pearl Harbor Invitational Tuesday.

"Charlie stepped up. He stepped up and played well," California coach Cuonzo Martin said. "He made plays, he made shots, he got to the rim."

Moore shot 6 of 9 from the field and scored 10 points after halftime to help the Golden Bears (7-1) recover from a lackluster first half in which they shot 25 percent (8 of 32) from the field.

"Coach told me to assert myself a little bit more on the offensive end in the second half and make sure we execute the offense. That's what we were struggling with in the first half," Moore said.

California made up for it by shooting 66.7 percent after halftime.

"We got off to a slow start to the game, but I thought our guys did a great job making adjustments," Martin said.

Jabari Bird scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime and Sam Singer and Grant Mullins added 11 points apiece for the Golden Bears.

Princeton took a 46-44 lead following Henry Caruso's 3-pointer from the left corner with 7:45 left to play, but California answered with an 11-1 run that was capped by a backdoor reverse layup by Bird off an assist from Moore.

"I thought they made some really big plays down the stretch -- about three or four big plays and we really struggled in that little window there and that was the difference in the game," Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said.

Devin Cannady scored 16 points and Spencer Weisz added 10 for the Tigers (2-4).

Princeton closed out the first half on a 4-0 run to take a 20-18 lead into halftime.

There were 12 ties and 15 lead changes in the game.

California dominated Princeton in both points in the paint (34-12) and bench scoring (24-7).

BIG PICTURE

California: The Golden Bears were a woeful 10 of 23 from the free-throw line. They made just 1 of 3 from the charity stripe in the first half and only 9 of 20 in the second. They entered the game averaging 67.5 percent for the season.

Princeton: The Tigers came into the contest averaging 9.6 3-pointers made per game, but made just 1 of 11 attempts from behind the arc in the first half and finished 6 of 26 for the game.

STAR WATCH

California super sophomore Ivan Rabb missed his first five shots from the field and didn't score his first points until the 18:57 mark of the second half. Rabb, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound forward, was averaging 19.8 points per game. He finished with a season-low six points, but had a game-high 11 rebounds.

SALUTE THE TROOPS

This is second consecutive year the Pearl Harbor Invitational is being held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and at historic Bloch Arena, which withstood the attacks of Dec. 7, 1941. Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of that day.

Uniformed service personnel from all four branches of the military were in attendance at the 2,500-seat, open air arena for Tuesday's doubleheader, which featured Seton Hall and Hawaii in the nightcap.

"To see service men and women in the stands today in uniform and the colors come on the floor means a lot," Henderson said. "It's a little bit of a different kind of trip, but in a really special way. We love it. We're disappointed with the loss, but this was really meaningful for us."

UP NEXT

California will look to extend its win streak to six games when it takes on Seton Hall Wednesday.

Princeton will play Wednesday against Hawaii, the first time the two schools have met.