Cal ends nine-game skid, beats Oregon State 74-70

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) – Kingsley Okoroh had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double and California ended a nine-game Pac-12 losing streak with a 74-70 win over Oregon State on Saturday night.

Okoroh, a senior from England, made six straight free throws in the final 6 minutes to help secure the Bears’ first victory since Dec. 30 at Stanford. A 54-percent career free throw shooter coming in, Okoroh finished 12 of 14 from the line.

He also had five blocked shots for Cal (8-16, 2-9), which avoided equaling its longest-ever losing streak of 10 games in the 1961-62 season.

The Beavers (11-11, 3-7) lost its fourth straight game and its sixth in the last seven. They have dropped 19 straight road games dating to last season.

Darius McNeill scored 16 points for Cal and Marcus Lee had 14.

OSU’s Stephen Thompson Jr. scored 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Tres Tinkle added 19 points, making 10 of 10 from the foul line.

Oregon State led 16-6 after 6½ minutes but Cal used a 14-0 late in the half to take a 36-28 lead into the break. The Bears then pushed that margin to 41-30 after a 3-pointer by McNeill with 18:21 left.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon State: The Beavers’ most recent true road victory was 86-82 at UCLA on March 5, 2016. Thompson, a freshman at the time, led the way with what was then a career-high 23 points, all of them in the second half.

Cal: The Bears are hoping to avoid setting a program record for most losses in a season. The 1978-79 team was 6-21 and the only other Cal team to suffer 20 defeats was the 1986-87 squad, which finished 9-20.

UP NEXT

Oregon State plays Washington State at home on Thursday.

Cal plays at Colorado on Wednesday.