BERKELEY -- After a capacity crowd greeted No. 6 Duke for its first-ever visit to Haas Pavilion, Cal guard Justin Pippen was asked what has to happen to keep fans coming.
"Winning games," he said. "Give the people something to look forward to."
The Bears gave it a decent shot Wednesday night, holding the lead for long stretches of the first half and trailing by just three points with 10 minutes left. But the Blue Devils (16-1, 5-0 ACC) dominated the rest of the way and stayed atop the conference standings with a 71-56 victory.
The matchup drew a crowd of 11,201, Cal's first sellout since LeBron James showed up two years ago to cheer his son Bronny, who was playing for USC.
The attendance figure was one of the few numbers that pleased Cal coach Mark Madsen.
"It was absolutely as loud as could be," Madsen said. "When we were going on our runs, you could feel the energy in the arena. I'm so grateful to all the fans who came out and made it an unbelievable atmosphere for us."
The Bears (13-5, 1-4) hope for a similar fan response Saturday afternoon when they take on 14th-ranked North Carolina (14-3, 2-2) at 1 p.m. The Tar Heels could be smarting after a 95-90 loss at Stanford on Wednesday.
"Shoutout to Cal fans," senior forward John Camden said. "We need 'em back on Saturday. We'll get it done then and give them something to cheer on."
Madsen liked his team's effort, especially in the first half when they started fast and bottled up Duke star freshman Cameron Boozer, limiting him to four points.
But the Blue Devils scored the final 13 points of the half, erasing a 30-24 Cal lead and taking a 37-30 advantage -- and all the momentum -- into the locker room. "That killed us," Madsen said.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer was impressed by Cal's fight but also his own team's ability to ultimately seize control of the game.
"Not many times do you get a chance to do something you haven't done before. Coming here to play Cal, seeing the crowd, the environment was a great thing for our program," he said. "A ton of respect for Mark and his team."
Most of the final stats were tilted in Duke's favor. The Blue Devils outrebounded Cal 44-30, including 16 offensive rebounds that translated to 17 second-chance points and helped them score 42 points in the paint. The visitors cashed in 11 Cal turnovers for 20 points.
Center Lee Dort had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bears; Camden scored 11 points before fouling out; and Pippen had 10 points and five steals.
Duke's defense kept Cal's three perimeter players under wraps. Dai Dai Ames, Pippen and Chris Bell, who combine to average more than 46 points, scored just 23 on combined 7-for-34 shooting.
"Duke did a good job of crowding our guys, taking away angles," Madsen said. "I think we could have finished a little bit better."
The game's best finisher was Boozer, who is projected as a top-5 NBA draft pick.
"I thought I did a pretty good job on him in the first half. As a team, we did a good job on him," Camden said. "In the second half, he definitely had his way."
Boozer finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.
"John Camden did an excellent job of just fighting Boozer, giving him different looks in the post," Madsen said. "Late in the game, Boozer took over the game. That's one of the top players in the country."
The UNC game will pit the Bears against another one of the nation's elite freshmen, forward Caleb Wilson.
"They're both strong and dominant inside, but the way they do it is totally different," Madsen said, comparing Boozer and Wilson, who also is expected to be a high lottery pick in the NBA draft.
"Boozer is a tough, physical, strong, low-base type guy that can really move people. Caleb is also a power player but he’s long, he’s lean, he’s athletic. He slides around you; he shoots over you."