Shepherd, Kelly lead Cal past Beavers 73-61 in Pac 12 opener

Dec 3, 2021, 05:49 am

BERKELEY, Calif. -- — Jordan Shepherd and Andre Kelly combined for 45 points, 33 in the second half and California opened Pac-12 play with a 73-61 win over Oregon State on Thursday night.

Kelly had eight points in the first five minutes of the second half when he and Shepherd combined for a 12-1 Golden Bear run. Then they scored the final 13 Cal points over the last four minutes to hold off the Beavers.

Shepherd scored 25 points and Kelly 20 for the Golden Bears (4-4). Grant Anticevich added 12 points. Kelly grabbed 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double and Shepherd eight boards as Cal had a 42-24 rebounding advantage.

The Beavers (1-7) had scored the last 12 points of the first half to pull within 34-33. But Kelly and Shepherd's 12-1 pushed the lead to 46-34.

Shepherd also scored inside to cap a 6-0 burst that made it 56-40 with 8:37 to play. Oregon State outscored Cal 11-2 to get within 60-53 with 4:10 to play but Kelly and Shepherd both had baskets down the stretch and combined to go 9 of 10 from the foul line.

Warith Alatishe scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Beavers and Dashawn Davis scored 14.

Cal shot 54% in the second half went Kelly went 6 of 7 and scored 16 points and Shepherd was 5 of 9.

Oregon State went 12 of 31 (39%), including 1 of 8, from 3-point range. The Beavers were also outscored by 10 at the foul line.

Cal plays at Utah on Sunday when Oregon State is home against No. 11 Arizona.

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