EUGENE, Ore. – Matt Bradley scored a team-high 21 points in his return to play after missing the last two games with an injury, but California fell short in an 82-69 loss to No. 21 Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday night.
Cal (5-5, 0-3 Pac-12) found itself within striking distance with just over five minutes to play, trailing 65-62, before faltering late. Makale Foreman tallied 14 points on four made 3-pointers while Andre Kelly and Lars Thiemann hauled in seven rebounds apiece.
Eugene Omoruyi led Oregon (7-1, 2-0 Pac-12) with a game-high 26 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Oregon started hot from the field, hitting seven of its first 11 attempts, but the Bears got two early 3-pointers from Bradley to pull within five points, 16-11, with 11:23 to go in the half. Cal closed the gap to three (25-22) on Bradley’s third triple with just over seven minutes to play in the first half.
Bradley kept it going and gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 27-26 on his fourth 3-pointer of the opening frame. Foreman knocked down a three of his own to extend the Bears’ run to 11-1 give Cal a 30-26 lead at the final media timeout of the half with 3:12 to play. Another deep shot from Foreman gave Cal a seven-point lead, before Oregon halted the 14-1 run and scored 10 of the final 12 points in the half. A 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave the Ducks a 36-35 advantage heading into the locker room.
Bradley led Cal with 15 first half points and Omoruyi had 15 of his own in the first 20 minutes for Oregon.
The teams traded 6-0 runs early in the second half and the Ducks took a two-point lead into the first media timeout at 49-47. Cal went more than four minutes without its next field goal as Oregon built a five-point lead.
Cal narrowed its deficit to two points on a jumper from Bradley with 6:31 to play, but the Ducks scored nine of the next 11 to take a nine-point lead and the Bears weren’t able to get within range again down the stretch.
UP NEXT
Cal will face Oregon State for the second time this season at 3 p.m. PT on Saturday, Jan. 2 in Corvallis. The two teams met in the season opener on Nov. 25, with the Beavers taking a 71-63 decision in Corvallis. Saturday’s game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
STAY POSTED
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so you think giving Thorpe and Lars 31 minutes (and Kelly and Bentley 32 and 34 minutes) better than giving Grant 25-30 minutes?oskidunker said:
Antevich would have never gotten a decent look, aka Betley, and would have been killed on defense. I think we are better off with three guards and Thorpe and Bradley. But Thorpe has to stop fouling. We are quicker.
oskidunker said:
Antevich would have never gotten a decent look, aka Betley, and would have been killed on defense. I think we are better off with three guards and Thorpe and Bradley. But Thorpe has to stop fouling. We are quicker.
