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ByJoshDubow The Associated Press BERKELEY AfterenteringFebru- ary with their postseason hopes in peril, the California Golden Bears head into March playing as well as anybody in the country. The 25th-ranked Bears (21- 8, 11-5 Pac-12) head into the fi- nal weekend of the regular sea- son with a seven-game winning streak and hopes of winning a conference title. Cal needs a sweep in Arizona and then hope No. 9 Oregon loses at least once this weekend at UCLA and South- ern California in order to claim at least a share of their second Pac- 12 title since 1959-60. "That's big, that's history," coach Cuonzo Martin said Tues- day. ""I always tell our guys when it comes to history, you can't get those days back. That is what it is, it's written in stone. That's 20 years from now, 50 years from now. That won't change." Those kinds of hopes seemed far-fetched for the Bears when they ended January by losing five of seven conference games. But Martin's team has engineered quite the turnaround and enters Thursday night's game at No. 18 Arizona with the second-longest winning streak among all power conference teams. Only No. 1 Kan- sas has a longer winning streak at 10 games. A win on Thursday would give Cal its longest conference winning streak since taking 11 straight games in 1959-60 but the players say they remain focused on the small details, not the big picture. "We're not looking at it like that," guard Jordan Mathews said. "It's just an opportunity to get better." The only time the Bears have even won a share of the con- ference title since Pete Newell stepped down after 1960 came in 2009-10. There has been little suc- cess in Berkeley for much of the past half-century but Martin has started to change that trend in his second season at Cal with help from a stellar freshman class led by Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb. Cal has been dominant dur- ing this current run, making it back into the AP poll for the first time since November. The Bears have outscored the opposition by nearly 15 points per game and won six games by double figures. The defense has led the way, lim- iting the opposition to 39 percent shooting from the field and 28 percent from 3-point range. The offense has been aided by improved outside shooting. The Bears hit 42 percent of their 3-point attempts in February, up from 35.4 percent coming into the month. Martin said the turn- around happened after he added a practice drill where the team's eight perimeter players are re- quired to hit 200 3-pointers in a 12-minute span. Jabari Bird has led the way by hitting 58 percent of his shots COLLEGE BASKETBALL CAL SEEKS TITLE IN PAC-12 CONFERENCE Golden Bears went unbeaten in February, riding 7-game winning streak PHOTOSBYD.ROSSCAMERON—BAYAREANEWSGROUP Cal's Jabari Bird (23) slam dunks two of his 12points against USC, during the second half a game at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Cal is gunning for a Pac-12title a er an undefeated February. California head coach Cuonzo Martin signals to his bench during the second half against USC at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Upnext: Cal at Arizona, 6 p.m. Thursday, TV on ESPN. TUNEIN By Stephen Wilson The Associated Press LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND The International Olympic Commit- tee has seen "no evidence" so far to support allegations of possible bribery in the bidding for the 2016 and 2020 Games, an IOC spokes- man said Tuesday. The International Olympic Committee said it has applied to be a party to the investigation by French authorities into cor- ruption in track and field that could spread to possible bribery in Olympic bidding. The IOC said it was in "close contact" with French prosecutors, who have been investigating brib- ery and money-laundering involv- ing doping cover-ups at the Inter- national Association of Athletics Federations. The Guardian newspaper re- ported Tuesday that the prosecu- tors have widened the probe to include the bidding for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, which were awarded to Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. "The IOC has been in close con- tact with the French prosecutors since the beginning of this inves- tigation last year," the Olympic body said in a statement. "The IOC's chief ethics and compli- ance officer had already asked OLYMPICS IOC: 'No evidence' of bribery in bidding By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press DORAL, FLA. Donald Trump was a distraction at golf tournaments even before he was running for president. Go back 15 years when the LPGA Tour's final event was held at Trump International in West Palm Beach. It was bad enough that Trump walked down the middle of the fairways like he owned the place (which he did). In the second round, Karrie Webb hit a tee shot on the par-3 seventh that was short of the green and tumbling toward the water when light rough held it up. Trump, who thinks golf isn't great unless it's hard, said that while Webb was a great player, that shot should have gone in the water. That night, his mainte- nance staff shaved the banks so severely that green spray paint was used to cover a few splotches of bare dirt. Two years ago at Doral, Rory McIlroy hit 4-iron into the par-3 ninth during a practice round when he was asked to hold his po- sition. Turns out The Donald was ready to leave, and his helicop- ter was parked near the walkway toward the green. McIlroy could GOLF Distraction at Trump Doral: Will PGA stay? CHARLIE RIEDEL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE The Denver Broncos' Von Miller (58) strips the ball from the Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton (1) during Super Bowl 50in Santa Clara on Feb. 7. The Broncos recovered the ball for a touchdown. By Barry Wilner The Associated Press Where are the All-Pros without contracts going? Nowhere, it appears. Super Bowl MVP Von Miller and fellow All-Pro players Josh Norman and Eric Berry were given franchise tags Tuesday, the league's deadline to do so. In all, nine players were slapped with the franchise tag and one, Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon, got the transition tag. Broncos linebacker Miller was the only player to get the exclu- sive tag, at $14.129 million, mean- ing no other team can make him an offer. Panthers cornerback Norman and Chiefs safety Berry were among the eight who received non-exclusive designations, so other clubs can make offers, but their current teams have the right to match or get compensated with two first-round draft picks. Also getting tagged with free agency set to begin on March 9 were Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson, Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery, Ravens placekicker Justin Tucker, Bills tackle Cordy Glenn and Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson. The players have until July 15 to work out a long-term contract with their teams. If they can't — and most franchises are eager to get these players locked up for several years — then the salary for 2016 is determined by the tag designation. Cousins would earn the most, $19.9 million, because quarter- backs have the highest tag num- ber. Wilkerson would be next at $15.7 million. Miami decided against plac- ing the franchise tag on Vernon, and this year's transition num- ber calls for defensive ends to re- ceive $12.734 million. A transition tag allows the player to negotiate with other teams, but his current club has the right of first refusal to match any offer. Should Ver- non leave, there is no compensa- tion for Miami. A look at how this game of tag played out: NFL Millergetsfranchisetagged Norman, Cousins also designated by teams in hopes of future deals BEARS PAGE 2 TAGGED PAGE 2 BIDDING PAGE 2 TRUMP PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 2, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1