Cal defeats Oregon State 69-58
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) – Ivan Rabb had 18 points and eight rebounds and the California Golden Bears handed Oregon State its seventh straight loss with a 69-58 victory Saturday night.
Charlie Moore added 15 for Cal, (14-6, 5-3 Pac-12), which led by as many as 14 points after a close first half. Jabari Bird and Grant Mullins each added 12 for the Bears, who have won four of their last five games.
Drew Eubanks had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Oregon State (4-16, 0-7). Stephen Thompson Jr. added 19 points for his 13th straight game in double figures.
The Beavers have struggled without top scorer Tres Tinkle, who was averaging 20.2 points a game before he broke his right wrist on Nov. 25 against Fresno State. Tinkle has missed 14 games.
Cal led most of the first half but the Beavers kept up. Thompson’s layup and free throw pulled Oregon State within 15-14 before Moore answered with a layup for the Bears on the other end.
Mullins’ 3-pointer and Kingsley Okoroh’s dunk put the Bears up 20-16. Bird’s 3 extended the lead to 34-25 lead but Oregon State closed the gap late in the half and trailed 34-29 at halftime. Eubanks led all scorers at the break with 12.
The Beavers got within 38-34 on JaQuori McLaughlin’s layup and free throw. It was as close as Oregon State would come and Bird made a 3-pointer that pushed California’s lead to 48-36 with 12:42 to go.
The two teams split the regular season series last year, and Cal beat Oregon State 76-68 in the Pac-12 tournament last season. Cal had won eight of the last 12 meetings going into Saturday’s game.
