Jermaine Couisnard scored 18 points to help Oregon come back from an 18-point, first-half deficit and beat California 80-73 on Saturday night in Eugene, Ore.
Jadrian Tracey added 14 points and Jackson Shelstad scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half for Oregon (13-3, 5-0 Pac-12), which improved to 5-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2016-17 season, when the Ducks eventually went to the Final Four.
Cal (6-11, 2-4) got 20 points from Jaylon Tyson, who entered Saturday as the Pac-12's leading scorer.
The Golden Bears saw their lead balloon to 41-23 in the first half after shooting 63.2 percent from the floor as a team through the game's first 13 minutes. Of its first 19 shots, Cal made 12, including four 3-pointers, and led 32-19 at the 7:31 mark.
Oregon struggled to hit open shots until the final few minutes of the first half. A highlight for the Ducks was the return of center N'Faly Dante from a knee injury.
Dante was named to the Pac-12 preseason all-conference first team and was playing in just his second game of the season on Saturday.
Dante checked in at the 14:36 mark of the first half and dunked 30 seconds later, tying the game at 12. But Cal got hot, playing at a quick pace while creating offense early in the shot clock.
Back-to-back close-range shots from Fardaws Aimaq gave the Golden Bears their 41-23 lead with 3:59 to play in the first. Aimaq had 14 of his 18 points before intermission.
The Ducks fought back loudly, cutting the lead to four, 43-39, with a 16-2 run to end the first half. Couisnard hit three 3-pointers over the final 2:57 of the frame.
The second half was tight, with Oregon going ahead 54-51 on Kario Oquendo's 3 at the 11:34 mark. Thirty-eight seconds later, Oquendo threw down a one-handed dunk over Aimaq, bringing the home crowd to its feet.
The slam turned out to be a pivotal play, as the Ducks would go up by as many as nine and hold off the Golden Bears, who made it a two-point game down the stretch and had chances to draw even but never could.
Keeshawn Barthelemy's floater with 1:06 to play gave the Ducks a 78-69 lead, effectively ending Cal's chance of putting together a comeback.
--Field Level Media
California | Oregon | |
Jaylon Tyson 20 | Scoring | Jermaine Couisnard 18 |
Jalen Cone 3 | Assists | Keeshawn Barthelemy 5 |
Jaylon Tyson 10 | Rebounds | Jackson Shelstad 6 |
Jalen Cone 5 | Free Throws Made | Jackson Shelstad 5 |
Devin Curtis 1 | Steals | Jackson Shelstad 1 |
Fardaws Aimaq 1 | Blocks | Kwame Evans Jr. 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
California | 73 | 44.4 | 6-24 | 11-17 | 9 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Oregon | 80 | 46.0 | 10-28 | 12-19 | 11 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 4 |