Isaac Bonton scored 21 points and added six assists with five rebounds to lead visiting Washington State to a 71-60 Pac-12 Conference victory over California on Thursday night at Berkeley, Calif.
Efe Abogidi added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (9-1, 2-1 in Pac-12), who rebounded from their first loss of the season, an 86-82 in double-overtime setback Saturday at home against Arizona.
In their first road game of the season, the Cougars were missing three players due to COVID-19 protocols. They still had enough firepower to handle struggling Cal, which was without leading scorer Matt Bradley due to an ankle injury.
The Golden Bears (5-7, 0-5) remained winless in conference play. They did have another top scorer available in Grant Anticevich, after he missed time following an appendectomy. He scored nine points and fouled out in his return.
Andre Kelly's 11 points off the bench led Cal.
Washington State turned a close first half into a near blowout, hitting eight of their first 12 shots after the break to turn a 31-28 lead into a 53-38 advantage. Abogidi hit his first two 3-pointers of the second half to get the Cougars off to a hot start.
The Bears got to within 61-54 with 2:17 remaining after a 3-pointer by Makale Foreman before Washington pulled away down the stretch. The Cougars iced the game at the free-throw line down the stretch. Bonton made six in the last 3:31.
Cal went on an 8-0 run to take a 19-13 lead in the first half, but the Cougars went on a 13-2 run of their own to take a 28-21 lead. Aljaz Kunc scored seven points in the last 2:47 to give Washington State a 31-28 lead at halftime.
The Cougars ended a three-game losing streak to the Bears. They have already matched their total number of conference road victories from last season with one.
--Field Level Media
Washington St. | California | |
Isaac Bonton 22 | Scoring | Andre Kelly 11 |
Isaac Bonton 6 | Assists | Joel Brown 4 |
Efe Abogidi 9 | Rebounds | Ryan Betley 5 |
Isaac Bonton 6 | Free Throws Made | Ryan Betley 4 |
Noah Williams 2 | Steals | Joel Brown 3 |
TJ Bamba 1 | Blocks | Kuany Kuany 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Washington St. | 71 | 44.2 | 7-18 | 18-23 | 11 | 38 | 3 | 5 | 15 |
California | 60 | 34.5 | 5-21 | 15-22 | 12 | 25 | 2 | 8 | 7 |