Jaylon Tyson matched his career high with 30 points and added nine rebounds and five assists as California outlasted Washington State 81-75 in overtime in a Pacific-12 Conference game Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif.
Tyson scored five points in a 10-0 run late in regulation and five more in the extra period as the Golden Bears won for the first time in eight tries in games decided by three or fewer points or in OT this season.
Fardaws Aimaq had 18 points and 14 rebounds for Cal (7-12 overall, 3-5 Pac-12) and Jalen Cone scored 15.
Andrej Jakimovski led a balanced WSU offense with 20 points. Myles Rice scored 16, Jaylen Wells had 15 and Isaac Jones added 13 points for the Cougars (13-6, 4-4), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
The Golden Bears trailed by seven, 65-58, with 2:03 left in regulation before Aimaq converted a three-point play after being fouled on a layup and Tyson made a 3-pointer with 1:06 to go.
After a WSU turnover, Tyson made a driving layup with 22 seconds remaining to give Cal a 66-65 advantage.
Cone made two free throws with seven seconds left to make it 68-65 before Rice drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.
Cal scored the first six points in OT, a run sparked by Jalen Celestine’s 3-pointer.
Trailing 42-34 early in the second half, the Cougars held Cal scoreless for more than five minutes and used an 8-0 run to tie the score on a three-point play by Wells.
The Golden Bears took a 36-29 lead at the half as Cone and Aimaq each scored nine points and Tyson added eight.
Jakimovski scored 12 before the intermission to keep the Cougars in the game.
Jakimovski made a 3-pointer with 14:42 left to give WSU an 11-7 lead, its largest of the half.
Grant Newell made a 3-pointer with 12:23 left to give Cal its first lead at 15-14 and spark a 7-0 run, which included a dunk by Tyson and a basket by Aimaq.
The Golden Bears extended their lead to as many as 11 points, 27-16, on a 3-pointer by Cone with 8:26 left in the half.
The Cougars pulled within three before dunks by Tyson and Aimaq closed the half.
–Field Level Media