Washington State beats Cal 84-65 for sixth straight win, moves within half-game of Pac-12 lead

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Myles Rice scored 25 points, Isaac Jones added 21 points and nine rebounds and Washington State beat California 84-65 for its sixth straight win Thursday night, moving within a game of first-place Arizona in the Pac-12.

Rice was 9-of-16 shooting, hitting three 3-pointers, while Jones was 8 of 10 with the Cougars (19-6, 10-4) shooting 55%. Jaylen Wells and Andrej Jakimovski added 12 points each and Rueben Chinyelu scored 10.

Jaylon Tyson shot 7 of 15 and scored 18 points, Rodney Brown Jr. added 12 and Grant Newell 11 for the Golden Bears (10-15, 6-8). Fardaws Aimaq pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Cal handed WSU a road loss in their first meeting on Jan. 20, 81-75 in overtime, when Tyson scored 30 points and the Cougars blew a seven-point lead with two minutes left in regulation. The Cougars avenged that loss and have now won nine of their last 10.

The Cougars led by 12 at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead thereafter. Back-to-back buckets by Jones made it a 20-point bulge midway through the second half.

Cal scored the game’s first basket but never led again. Jakimovski hit consecutive 3-pointers to kick off a 17-7 run over the final five minutes of the first half for a 36-24 lead.

The Cougars held Cal to 38% shooting. WSU leads the Pac-12 in shooting percentage defense at under 41%. WSU’s Oscar Cluff had a career-high four blocks.

Cal plays at Washington and Washington State is host to Stanford on Saturday.

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