TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Ryan Luther scored 19 points and Arizona ended its longest losing streak in 36 years with a 76-51 victory over California Thursday night.

The Wildcats (15-12, 6-8 Pac-12) were solid defensively all night and turned on the offense in the second half to end a seven-game losing streak.

Arizona's bench scored 31 points and the Wildcats made 17 of 29 shots in the second half for its first win since Jan. 19.

Luther led the second-half charge with 13 points and went 5 for 8 from the 3-point line overall.

Cal (5-21, 0-14) had another ugly offensive night to lose its 15th straight game. The Bears shot 30 percent and went 6 for 26 from the 3-point arc to remain winless in the Pac-12 since last Feb. 8

Justice Sueing led the Bears with 18 points.

Arizona won the first meeting with Cal 87-65 in Berkley on Jan. 12.

Since then, the Wildcats have gone in tailspin, losing eight of nine to go from NCAA Tournament longshot to hoping for an NIT berth.

The Bears continued their slide after playing Arizona, losing nine straight to stretch their winless streak to 14 games.

Arizona and Cal played like two teams with a combined 21 straight losses early, clanking shots and trading turnovers.

The Wildcats got better.

The Bears didn't.

Cal had a nearly six-minute span where it missed 11 of 12 shots and went 6 for 26 in the first half, including 2 of 13 on 3-pointers.

Arizona had similar troubles at the arc, going 4 for 15. The Wildcats made up for it by making 6 of 11 inside the arc and getting 15 points from their bench to lead 30-20.

Arizona stretched the lead to 43-25 with an early 11-0 run - eight by Luther - and used a short run later to go up 58-40.

Notes:

• Arizona posted 21 assists in Thursday's win over Cal, marking the team's most assists in a conference game since posting 25 assists against Arizona State on Jan. 12, 2017. The 21 assists were one off Arizona's season high. The Wildcats posted 22 assists against Georgia Southern in November.
• Ryan Luther tied his season-high with 19 points and tied his career-high in 3-point field goals made with five. Luther also had 19 points on five made 3s against Arizona State earlier this season.
• Sophomore guard Alex Barcello finished with 14 points, establishing a new career-high for points in a conference game. His previous high was 12 set earlier this season against Utah. Barcello was 7 of 7 from the free throw line, also setting a new career high in free throws made and attempted.
• Arizona held California to a .304 field goal percentage in the win. That mark is the lowest by an Arizona conference opponent since the Wildcats held Oregon State to .286 shooting on Jan. 30, 2015.
• Arizona attempted a season-high 31 3-pointers against Cal, knocking in 11. It's the fifth time this season Arizona has reached double figures in 3-point field goals made. The 31 attempts were the most since the Wildcats attempted 36 against Stanford on March 5, 2016.
• Freshman Devonaire Doutrive finished with a career-high 11 points. His previous high was 10 set against Washington State earlier this month.

 
Quotes:
"I would like to thank our fans for showing up tonight. The seven-game losing streak has never really happened before when you have had this run of success and for the crowd to be there on a Thursday night in late February, it is the greatest separator between Arizona and other basketball programs." – Sean Miller.
 
"Ryan is unselfish to a fault and he is such a great kid, but on the court his greatest ability is to shoot the ball on a team that doesn't shoot well. He will give up open threes and make a pass to a player that has a worse field goal percentage than him and it is actually really selfish. I think once we went over that, his responsibility is to take every open shot he gets and if he goes 0-10 those are really good shots for Arizona. We need more players on our team to shoot the ball like him."  -- Miller on Ryan Luther.
 
"My teammates and coaches do a good job putting me in the right spots. I have been shooting and playing with confidence. With so many teams in the Pac-12 playing zone, we have been working on attacking zone a lot. I have found a rhythm of where my open spots are, where I have to be aggressive and where I have to find my teammates, and I think my teammates have done the same." – Ryan Luther.