Cal tops Oregon State to advance in the Pac-12 Tournament

Cal defeated Oregon State 67-62 in the opening-round of the Pac-12 tournament Wednesday afternoon to effectively end the Beavers season. The fifth-seeded Golden Bears will face the fourth-seeded Utah Utes tomorrow in Las Vegas as the tournament marches forward.

In a surprisingly competitive game, Oregon State couldn’t pull out a victory despite having perhaps their best three-point shooting effort of the season. Cal looked disjointed and timid on offense all game long, but did just enough to advance.

Drew Eubanks went down early in the second half after suffering a nasty looking ankle injury and did not return. Without Eubanks the Beavers struggled to contain Ivan Rabb and Cal’s other big men, but battled admirably.

With just under a minute to play, Oregon State found themselves in a fortuitous 3-on-1 fast break with a chance to take the lead. Kendal Manuel proceeded to airball his three-point attempt, which led to a three-point play for Cal on the other end of the court to effectively put the game away.

Stephen Thompson Jr. led the way for the Beavs scoring 25 points (5-for-6 from behind the arc) and snagging 5 rebounds. Kendal Manuel chipped in 11 points and Gligorije Rakocevic added 10 points of his own (3-for-3 from deep).

Game Notes:

• Oregon State shot 58.8% from three-point land. Which was actually a higher percentage than from the free-throw line (58.3%).
• Oregon State’s 10 made three-pointers tied a season high.
• The Beavers missed 10 free-throws and lost by 5.
• Cal won the rebounding battle 40-27.

Oregon State will look to put the disappointing 2016-17 basketball season in the rear-view mirror. They welcome promising recruits Ethan Thompson and Zach Reichle to the program and will also look forward to the return of a healthy Tres Tinkle. The future is bright for the Oregon State basketball team, but that won’t make this seasons struggles any easier to digest for the players, coaches or the fans.