Gueye, Bamba lead Washington State past Cal 63-57

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T.J. Bamba rocks the rim with jam

T.J. Bamba rocks the rim with jam

Feb 26, 2024, 01:23 am

BERKELEY, Calif. -- — Mouhamed Gueye had 20 points and 10 rebounds, TJ Bamba scored 19 points, and Washington State defeated California 63-57 on Saturday for the Cougars' fifth straight win.

Cal made only four field goals in the first eight minutes of the second half but was able to tie the score at 39 on a pair of free throws by Kuany Kuany with 11:22 remaining. The Cougars did not surrender the lead and a jumper by Gueye gave them a 53-44 lead with 4:37 left. A dunk by Bamba made it 57-47 with 1:37 to go and his free throws at 1:02 gave the Cougars their largest lead, 59-48.

The score was tied four times but the Cougars (15-15, 10-9 Pac-12) never trailed.

Joel Brown had 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Golden Bears (3-26, 2-16). Kuany had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Monty Bowser scored 10 points. Cal, which had a 12-game losing streak earlier in the season, has now last 13 in a row.

Shooting statistics were similar for both teams. Cal hit on 37% to WSU's 33%. The Cougars made 6 of 25 3-pointers (24%) to Cal's 5 of 18 (28%). WSU made 21 of 26 free throws (81%) and Cal hit on 14 of 18 (78%).

Gueye, who finished with a Pac-12 best 14th double-double of the season, had 11 points to help Washington State grab a 29-26 at halftime.

Washington State completed a sweep of the Bay Area schools in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1981-1983, when current WSU radio broadcaster Craig Ehlo played under coach George Raveling.

UP NEXT

Washington State: The Cougars travel to play Washington on Thursday to close out the regular season.

California: The Golden Bears end the regular season with road games at Oregon on Thursday and Oregon State on Saturday.

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