Bears Open Pac-12 Play With 73-61 Win Over OSU

BERKELEY -The Bears continued their recent solid play of late, holding a double digit lead for much of the game in their encouraging Pac-12 opening 73-61 win over last season’s nemesis, Oregon State, who swept them in three games in 2020-21. A crowd of 4505 fans were treated to the win at Haas Pavilion to bring the Bears’ record to 4-4 (1-0) for the young season.

Cal got stellar performances from transfer guard Jordan Shepherd, who led the Bears with 25 points and eight rebounds on 8-14 shooting and by senior forward Andre Kelly, who continued his season-long strong play with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Solid defense against the speedy Oregon offense played a big role in the Bears’ win, including a decisive 42-24 margin on the boards. The Bears also shot 50% from the floor and a stellar 84% (16-19) from the line.

The Beavers got strong contributions from senior forward Warith Alitishe (9-12 shooting and eight rebounds) along with guard Dashawn Davis who added 14 points, four assists and four rebounds on 7-10 shooting but it wasn’t enough to do more than make an occasional run at the Bears.

After a Sam Alajike trey, the Bears’ parlayed a 10-2 run to an early 22-11 lead over OSU 9:20 into the game, though the Beavers ratcheted up their defense to climb to within one at the break, trailing 34-33 closing with a 12-0 run.

The Bears went on a 12-2 run of their own to start the second half, with Shepherd and Kelly both hitting a pair of buckets in the run.

OSU made one last push to make it a game, whittling the Bears’ lead down to seven on an Alitishe layup with 4:10 remaining but Shepherd and Kelly picked up the Bears last 12 points of the game, eventually extending their lead back to final 12-point margin.

The Bears will take to the road to complete the rare early Pac-12 opening weekend, taking on Utah Sunday at 2 in Salt Lake City.

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