BERKELEY, Calif. -- California showed Saturday why it was ranked No. 14 in the preseason Associated Press poll.

The Bears got six 3-pointers and 28 points off the bench from guard Jordan Mathews and prized freshman recruit Jaylen Brown made the go-ahead free throw with 18.4 seconds left to help unranked Cal beat No. 12 Arizona 74-73 at Haas Pavilion.

"This is a signature milestone for me coming to Cal," said Brown, a Georgia resident.

Brown, a 6-foot-7 forward, was just 4 of 16 from the field but wound up 15 points and ran the offense at times as Cal played its second game since point guard Tyrone Wallace broke his hand earlier this week.

"Jay's a good basketball player," Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said. "He knows how to do a lot of things."

Guard Gabe York scored 15 points and forward Ryan Anderson had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (16-4, 4-3 Pac-12), who rallied from a nine-point deficit midway through the second half to tie it in the final minute.

The Wildcats were never able to find an answer for Mathews, though, as Cal stayed unbeaten at home.

"You have to credit Jordan Mathews for an incredible night," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "His teammates did a great job of finding him, and he made us pay. The caliber of shooter that he is, and the way that he is playing, he was certainly the difference in the game."

It was Mathews' outside shooting and an Arizona scoring drought that enabled the Bears (14-6, 4-3) to take that nine-point lead. He came off the bench for just the second time this season and started slowly, making just one of his first five 3-point attempts. But he made 5 of 7 after that.

"I kind of knew I was hot on the second one from the corner in the second half," Mathews said.

The second trey in the second half gave Cal a nine-point lead with 14:09 left and the Bears still were up by nine with 9:25 remaining.

Arizona, which led by two at halftime, helped Cal's surge by going scoreless in the first 4:20 of the second half, committing six turnovers in that span.

"The first four minutes were about as bad as we can play, and Cal had a lot to do with it," Miller said.

However, the Wildcats rallied to tie on guard Kadeem Allen's fast-break basket with 2:55 left, and tied it again on another breakaway bucket by Allen with 39.3 seconds remaining.

Cal played the final 4:33 without any timeouts, so at that point the Bears simply gave the ball to Brown and let him work.

He was fouled by center Kaleb Tarczewski with 18.4 seconds remaining, but Brown missed the first free throw.

"I was just thinking, 'Same shot I shoot every day in the gym, same stroke,'" Brown said of his mental state between free throws.

The second one dropped through, and York's contested driving layup with two seconds left went awry.

It gave Cal the signature win it needed, the kind of victory that was expected when Brown and freshman center Ivan Rabb, both of whom were ranked among the nation top eight recruits by ESPN, committed to Cal.

"Like I've said before, we have a talented team," Martin said. "But you need more than talent. This was a great win for the program."

Cal did enough things right to win, even though Arizona shot 50.9 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Bears 32-27.

Arizona ended up with just 11 turnovers, but six of them came in that pivotal four-minute stretch to start the second half.

NOTES: Both teams were missing a key backcourt player. Arizona played its fourth game without G Allonzo Trier, who is averaging 14.8 points overall and 19.3 points in conference play but broke his hand Jan. 9. Cal played its second game without G Tyrone Wallace, who is averaging a team-high 15.4 points and broke his hand earlier this week in practice. Both Trier and Wallace will be sidelined a few more weeks. Sam Singer has taken Wallace's place as the Bears' starting point guard. ... Arizona coach Sean Miller needed a win Saturday to get his 300th career coaching victory. ...Cal has a 13-0 record at home. ...Arizona and Cal were picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the Pac-12 in a preseason media poll. ...Arizona won each of the four previous meetings with Cal, including all three matchups last season.