Fogg's big night key to Wildcats' win over Cal

All season it's been a case of which Arizona men's basketball team will show up? And not just in games or in halves, but from possession to possession. It's been that inconsistent. Thursday night it couldn't have been more apparent or dramatic in Arizona's crazy swings. It might also be a night that's remembered as the game where the Wildcats grew up. Arizona played with poise and confidence in defeating California 78-74 in Haas Pavilion, giving the Bears their first home loss this season and first in 17 consecutive home games. "It's huge," said Kyle Fogg in a postgame interview with Fox Sports Net. "They're tied for second and (were) about to be in first place. I think some people might have even given up on us, but we know as a team we are trying to get these wins." Arizona is now 15-8 overall and 6-4 in the Pac-12 Conference. California had a chance to stay in a first-place tie with Washington but instead fell to 7-3 in the conference and 17-6 overall. The victory wasn't without a possible downfall. Miller, in his postgame radio interview, said sophomore Jordan Mayes "may have broken his foot" in the game. It isn't clear which one or what happened. "We will cross our fingers and hope Jordan is OK," Miller said. The victory comes five days after junior Kevin Parrom suffered a season-ending broken right foot against Washington. Arizona, again, got a huge game Fogg, who had 23 points after hitting 5 of 6 3-pointers. But it was Fogg's defense that drew the praise. Fogg partially blocked Allen Crabbe's attempt at a 3-pointer late in the game that would have tied it. He also hit the game-deciding 3-pointer with 1:18 left. "Kyle Fogg played defensively about as hard as I've ever seen a guy play," Miller said. California hit just one of eight 3-pointers. And Arizona picked up some solid and consistent play from freshman Angelo Chol. He had eight points and four rebounds. "It's the best game Angelo has played," Miller said on his postgame radio show. "We really need him more. He takes over for Kevin's role." Miller said Chol is the team's hardest worker and will "now have this opportunity over the next four to six weeks to have an increased role and hopefully he'll respond like he did." Freshman Josiah Turner, who played with four fouls in a big portion of the second half, was steady enough to make sure his teammates didn't completely unravel. It was Arizona's first win this season when the game was decided by five or fewer points after having gone 0 for 4 this season. "We've been in about 18 in a row of these (type games) minus two or three," Miller said somewhat jokingly to FSN. "It was good to see us break through. We weren't perfect. We missed a lot of free throws. But I do know we played really hard and with a lot of energy." Miller later said it was that "energy and heart" was exactly what the team needed to get the win, particularly with Parrom out with a season-ending foot injury. "Kevin," Miller told the television audience, "we got this one for you." It was a game that had nearly everything from both sides good defense, flurries of offense, late-game drama and even a small skirmish between California standout player Jorge Gutierrez and UA assistant Joe Pasternack after Gutierrez went after a ball on UA's sideline. After the dust finally settled, Arizona prevailed. Arizona was down 22-6 early in the game and then all of a sudden turned into an NCAA tournament team for parts if not most of the final 30 minutes of the game. Arizona started the game shooting 3 for 10 only to make a furious offensive run hitting 14 of 17 shots to take a 45-34 halftime lead. It was only the fourth time this Pac-12 season Arizona had held a halftime lead. Before the hot shooting streak, UA looked like it was going to get blown out at Haas Pavilion. Then Fogg took over. He hit a couple of jumpers, got a steal and all but propelled Arizona to a 30-8 late first half run. "Kyle was terrific," said Miller in a postgame interview with Fox Sports. "For us to have the lead we had at halftime was one of the keys for us winning and it was all from his performance - not only on offense but on defense."