Cal might want to try to get a hand in the face of Myles Rice when they play host to Washington State on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.
Rice is in the running for his second consecutive Pacific-12 Conference freshman of the week honor — and his fourth this season — after scoring a career-high 35 points for the Cougars in an 89-75 victory at Stanford on Thursday.
“It was just my night,” said Rice, who made five 3-pointers and added eight assists with four steals. “I feel like I found my spots pretty well, but not forcing it at the same time. I got in a little groove. Like I said before the last game, I just trust in my craft and my work. The shots went in and we came out with a dub. That’s all I’m happy about.”
The Golden Bears also will have to contend with Isaac Jones and Oscar Cluff inside.
Jones, who was the Pac-12 and national player of the week after leading WSU to an upset of then-No. 8 Arizona last weekend, scored 24 points Thursday. Cluff recorded his first double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds as the Cougars (13-5, 4-3 Pac-12) dominated inside, outscoring the Cardinal 58-28 in the paint and 14-2 in second-chance points.
Cal (6-12, 2-5) is coming off a heartbreaking 77-75 loss to visiting Washington on Thursday as the Huskies’ Moses Wood made a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Golden Bears dropped to 0-7 in games either decided by three points or less or those that went into overtime this season.
“Tough way to lose a game at the end,” said Cal coach Mark Madsen, whose team rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half and held a four-point lead with 31 seconds left. “The guy made a really tough shot. As a coach I never pin a loss on the last-second play. The game is won and lost through the totality of the game.
“Obviously, it’s very dramatic. It’s crushing for us. The other team’s elated, but there were other things we did along the way.”
Fardaws Aimaq led the Golden Bears with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylon Tyson and Jalen Cone each added 17 points.
–Field Level Media