Washington State goes for its first road sweep of the Pacific-12 Conference’s two Northern California schools in almost 30 years when the streaking Cougars visit California on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley.
Washington State (13-7, 6-3 Pac-12) tipped off a two-game swing through the San Francisco Bay Area with a 66-60 triumph at Stanford on Thursday night. Michael Flowers led the way with 22 points.
The last time the Cougars won consecutive games at Stanford and Cal was in January 1993, when the Kelvin Sampson was coaching the Cougars and they beat a Golden Bears team that was being led to the NCAA Elite Eight by a point guard named Jason Kidd.
Washington State enters this contest riding a four-game winning streak, its longest in Pac-12 play since 2008, which was the last time the Cougars have reached the NCAA Tournament. These Cougars have won five of six, including their last two on the road at Utah and Stanford.
Also contributing to the win over the Cardinal was DJ Rodman, whose 4-of-5 shooting and nine points came in handy in the low-scoring affair.
“I was very determined,” said Rodman, who was scoreless at Stanford two years ago in his only previous visit. “My freshman year, I kind of got punked around and pushed around by them. Being back here, and my last memory being that, I was very determined to show I can back myself up and be DJ.”
The Cougars have beaten Cal (9-14, 2-10) three straight times, including 65-57 at home on Jan. 15. Washington State led that game just 56-54 before Flowers buried a key 3-pointer with 2:52 remaining.
Andre Kelly had 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for Cal, but he hasn’t had a double-double since, due in part to missing the last two games with a left foot injury.
Kelly is not expected to face the Cougars, either, as Cal attempts to snap a nine-game losing streak, which was extended by Thursday’s 84-61 home loss to Washington.
Cal coach Mark Fox emptied his bench early against the Huskies, but nothing worked in his club’s third 20-point loss in their last five outings.
“We have some tired guys,” Fox said of a team that was playing for the fourth time in eight days. “They didn’t have the juice tonight.”
Eleven of the 12 Golden Bears who played in Thursday’s game scored, but none had more than 10 points.
–Field Level Media
