Oregon State and California each head into the last four games of the regular season with a chance to reach .500 overall, starting with a game Thursday in Berkeley, Calif.
The Beavers and Golden Bears are each 11-15 overall with Oregon State 3-12 in Pac-12 and California 7-8 in conference play.
The Golden Bears have a chance to finish in the top six in the conference with a winning record in Mark Madsen’s first year as head coach.
California is coming off an 82-80 win at Washington on Saturday.
Jaylon Tyson scored 21 of his team’s 42 points in the first half while making 8 of 11 shots from the floor.
He finished with 28 points and six assists, including his final one to Jalen Celestine for the winning 3-pointer with five seconds remaining at Washington.
“Jaylon Tyson made the most unbelievable read with the pass and Jalen Celestine made just the most unbelievable shot to win the game,” Madsen said.
Tyson and fellow Texas Tech transfer Fardaws Aimaq are leading California in scoring, with Tyson averaging 20.3 points and Aimaq scoring 14.7 per game.
Tyson is averaging 7.1 rebounds and Aimaq is pulling down 11.2 per game.
Oregon State is coming off a 60-58 loss to Oregon at home on Saturday.
It was the Beavers’ sixth straight loss to their rivals, including three consecutive two-point losses at home.
Michael Rataj led the Beavers with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Oregon State was outrebounded 40-30 and was outscored 44-28 in the paint.
“Our big thing was to have a better year than we did a year ago,” said Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle, whose team was 11-21 last season. “We still have the opportunity in front of us with the games we have to get on a roll, win some games and put a positive spin on it.”
–Field Level Media