Oregon Loses Way at California
In a game so close, Amit Tamir said the basket never looked quite so large.
California’s 6-foot-10 freshman forward came off the bench to make 14 of 19 shots for a season-best 39 points as the Bears handed No. 13 Oregon a 107-103 loss in double overtime at Berkeley, the Ducks’ second consecutive overtime defeat.
Tamir, a 22-year-old from Jerusalem, scored six of his points in the second overtime, helping California, which fought back from a 19-point first-half deficit and registered its biggest comeback victory since 1994.
Tamir made five of six three-point attempts in the fifth-highest individual scoring effort in school history.
“The basket looked so much bigger than it ever has before,” Tamir said. “I just felt in the zone. Everything I shot somehow made it inside the basket.”
After a tip-in, Tamir made a three-pointer to open the second overtime giving Cal (17-5, 8-4) the lead for good.
The Ducks (17-7, 9-4), who lost, 90-87, in overtime to No. 20 Stanford on Thursday, got a career-high 29 points from Luke Jackson.
Oregon made 55% of its shots, including 10 of 14 by Jackson, but the Ducks committed 21 turnovers and just couldn’t slow Tamir or the Bears, who scored 72 points after intermission.
“The question was whether we could come back from that loss to Stanford,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “We played hard, but the ball just didn’t go our way. That’s life on the road in the Pac-10.”
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No. 11 Arizona 85, Washington State 68--Luke Walton had 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Wildcats took sole possession of first place in the conference with a victory at Tucson.
Salim Stoudamire had 17 points and Rick Anderson 11 for the Wildcats (17-6, 10-3), who won their fourth consecutive and 34th in a row over the Cougars (5-16, 1-12). Washington State hasn’t defeated Arizona since Jan. 30, 1986, when it won by two points in overtime.
Mike Bush had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, J Locklier had 13 points--all in the second half--and 12 rebounds, and Marcus Moore had 12 points.
The Wildcats led by 21 points at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
The Cougars got within 11 points twice--at 47-36 on the first two putbacks by Milton Riley in a 24-second span. But Walton and Anderson answered each basket by Riley with three-point shots--Anderson’s boosting the Wildcats to a 55-40 lead with 14:19 remaining--and Washington State was on the way to its 14th loss in 15 games.
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No. 20 Stanford 77, Oregon State 55--Curtis Borchardt had 20 points and 12 rebounds to record his fourth consecutive double-double, and 10th of the season, to lead the Cardinal at Palo Alto.
Teyo Johnson scored a career-high 15 points and Casey Jacobsen had 13 as Stanford (15-6, 8-4) won its ninth consecutive against the Beavers at home.
J.S. Nash scored 12 points to lead Oregon State (10-13, 3-10), which lost its fourth consecutive game and fell to 0-8 against ranked opponents.
Stanford is part of a four-way tie for third place in the Pac-10, where one game separates first from sixth.
Stanford opened a 57-47 lead after Jacobsen scored with 7:52 remaining to play. The Cardinal maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
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Arizona State 86, Washington 74--Chad Prewitt scored a career-high 33 points, including 21 in the second half, and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Sun Devils (13-9, 6-7) over the Huskies (8-15, 2-11) at Tempe, Ariz.
Doug Wrenn scored 30 for the Huskies, who have lost 12 consecutive at the Arizona schools. Washington has been swept at the Arizona schools in 12 of the last 14 seasons and has a combined 2-28 record in Arizona since 1989.
