LAS VEGAS — Just in case the Cal basketball team didn’t have a vivid memory of losing to Arizona by 39 points just one week earlier, the Bears were treated to a video replay on the eve of their Pac-12 tournament rematch with the Wildcats.

“We didn’t give up like we did the last time,” guard Jabari Bird said. “We weren’t just going to let them come out in this game and step all over us.”

It was a more competitive Cal team that took the floor Thursday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. For 20 minutes the Bears were right there. But the top-seeded Wildcats flexed their considerable muscle in the second half and breezed to a 73-51 quarterfinal victory.

“We watched the tape of Tucson last night, and the main thing is we didn’t really fight and compete,” Jordan Mathews said. “I thought we did a great job of competing today.”

Down by just six points at the end of the first half, the Bears (18-15) cut it to 33-30 when Bird hit a 3-pointer to open the second half.

From then on, the game belonged to the Wildcats (29-3). Arizona turned Cal mistakes into easy baskets and led 46-32 with 15:50 left. The margin didn’t grow larger until the final five minutes, but the Bears got no closer than 10 points.

The fifth-ranked Wildcats, hoping to win their first Pac-12 tournament title since 2002, advance to Friday’s 6:10 p.m. semifinal against UCLA.

Cal, which began the day rated No. 99 by the NCAA’s RPI computer, awaits a possible call from the National Invitation Tournament or, more likely, the College Basketball Invitational.

Senior David Kravish said he’d like to play another game. “We’re just going to keep working, take the next step to whatever’s ahead of us,” he said.

Tyrone Wallace led the Bears with 19 points, and Kravish had 12 rebounds. But a day after Kravish and Mathews combined for 44 points on 16-for-25 shooting in an easy victory over Washington State, they totaled nine points on 4-for-20 accuracy.

“They’re very good defensively,” said Kravish, who shot 3 for 13. “They really pack it in and make it hard to get in the paint. Even when you get in there, they’re good at altering shots.”

Emotions surfaced with 2:41 left and Arizona leading 66-49 when Kravish and Arizona’s Brandon Ashley shoved each other and had to be separated by officials and teammates. Officials reviewed video and called a double technical foul.

Kravish and Ashley both used the word “nothing” to describe the exchange. “If the game is that heated, people are competing,” Kravish said.

“That’s basketball,” Cal coach Cuonzo Martin added.

Freshman Stanley Johnson scored 19 for Arizona. Ashley, an East Bay native, added 15 points and seven rebounds. Point guard T.J. McConnell had 13 points and six assists.

After Cal trailed by 21 points at intermission a week ago in Tucson, Martin was encouraged to see his team go toe-to-toe with the conference’s best squad. “We battled, they battled,” he said. “They played well.”

If the Bears didn’t need to be perfect, they couldn’t afford to shoot 34 percent and turn the ball over 14 times. None of it derailed them in the first half, but the Wildcats kept the pressure on and eventually pulled away.

“When you play a team like Arizona,” Mathews said, “you have a slim margin for error.”

For more on Cal sports, see the Bear Talk blog at ibabuzz.com/beartalk. Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter at twitter.com/Jeff Faraudo.