Jordan Shepherd exploded for a career-high 33 points, California limited Oregon to its lowest point total this season in Pacific-12 Conference play, and the Golden Bears shocked the Ducks 78-64 on Saturday afternoon in Eugene, Ore.
Shepherd shot 9-for-15 from the field for Cal (11-15, 4-11 Pac-12), which completed a Beaver State sweep after having surprised Oregon State 63-61 on Wednesday. The Golden Bears had lost 10 straight games entering the week.
Will Richardson had a team-high 22 points for Oregon (16-8, 9-4), which had entered the contest having won four straight games and 10 of its last 11.
Cal’s defense set the stage for the upset early on, holding Oregon to 22 points in the first 20 minutes en route to a 38-22 lead at the break. Shepherd had 13 of his 33 points in the half.
The Ducks, whose previous season-low point total in conference play this season had been 66 at Colorado last Thursday, never found a rhythm offensively in the second half and thus never cut significantly into their deficit.
The closest the Ducks got was 51-40 on a 3-pointer by Richardson with 7:55 to play. But Cal’s Makale Foreman countered with a three of his own, killing the Oregon momentum and pointing the visitors in the direction of its first two-game winning streak in conference play this season.
Foreman finished tied with Grant Anticevich and Jalen Celestine as Cal’s second-leading scorer in the game with eight, hitting two 3-pointers. That was just three shy of Oregon’s team total, as the Ducks misfired on 22 of their 27 attempts.
Shepherd also found time for three assists, four steals and seven rebounds for Cal, the latter tying Anticevich and Joel Brown for team-high honors. The Golden Bears won the battle of the boards 36-31.
Shepherd’s 33-point effort was six higher than his previous high, which he established while at Charlotte as a junior in Deceber 2019 and tied earlier this season in his Cal debut against UC San Diego.
Richardson shot 6-for-12 for Oregon, but his teammates combined to go just 16-for-46. The Ducks finished the game at 37.9 percent, well below Cal’s 52 percent.
Richardson also had a game-high nine rebounds for Oregon, which had won its last nine head-to-heads with Cal, including five in a row at home.
Quincy Guerrier added 15 points and De’Vion Harmon 11 for the Ducks.
–Field Level Media
