Mouhamed Gueye had a game-high 20 points, TJ Bamba buried a back-breaking 3-pointer and visiting Washington State gave itself a rare double-digit win season in Pac-12 play with a 63-57 victory over California on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.
Bamba finished with 19 points for the Cougars (15-15, 10-9 Pac-12), who reached 10 wins in conference play for the second straight year after having failed to do so for 13 consecutive seasons.
A 13th straight defeat increased Cal’s school-record loss total to 26 and gave the Golden Bears (3-26, 2-16) a sixth consecutive setback to end their home schedule.
Cal never led in the tightly contested game but managed to draw even one final time at 39-all on two free throws by Kuany Kuany with 11:22 to play.
But the Cougars, seeking a fifth straight win, made five of six foul shots to reclaim the lead, and when Bamba nailed his big 3-pointer with 7:14 to go, the margin swelled to 49-44.
Jabe Mullins added two more free throws and Gueye hit a jumper, the latter completing a 14-5 run that put Washington State in charge for good.
Gueye did almost half of his scoring at the foul line, where he went 9-for-9 en route to his eighth 20-point effort of the season and 14th double-double, posting a game-high-tying 10 rebounds.
The Cougars shot 21-for-26 at the line while Cal was 14-for-18.
Justin Powell chipped in with nine points and DJ Rodman also totaled 10 boards for the Cougars, who won despite shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and 6-for-25 on 3-pointers.
Joel Brown had 13 points, Kuany 11 and Monty Bowser 10 for Cal, which shot just 5-for-18 on 3-pointers. Bowser had three of the five long-range successes in seven attempts off the bench, while the Golden Bears’ starters were a cumulative 2-for-11.
Brown added a game-high nine assists and seven rebounds to his stat line, while Kuany was Cal’s top rebounder with nine.
–Field Level Media