BERKELEY – Joel Brown knocked down a 3-pointer to break a tie with less than two minutes to play and California made its free throws in the final seconds to defeat Washington 84-78 in a Pac-12 Conference clash Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
 
The Bears (6-7, 1-5 Pac-12) snapped a three-game losing streak and were paced by a season-high 22 points from Andre Kelly, who shot 11-of-13 from the field. Two other Bears scored in double figures as Ryan Betley tallied 18 points and three assists while Makale Foreman added 14 points, including 12 in the second half on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
Cal out-shot Washington 55 percent (31-of-56) to 52 percent (26-of-50) and scored 20 points off of 15 Husky turnovers. The Bears committed just nine turnovers, the second consecutive game in single digits. Cal's 84 points were its most in a Pac-12 game this season. Cal's leading scorer Matt Bradley missed his second straight game and fourth in the last six outings due to injury.
 
Erik Stevenson scored a game-high 27 points along with five assists to lead Washington (1-9, 0-5 Pac-12).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Huskies opened the game with an early 9-2 run before Cal answered by making five of its next six field goals to pull within 19-18 at the 12-minute mark of the first half. The Bears extended their momentum into a 9-0 run of their own, grabbing a 24-19 lead by holding UW without a basket for more than four minutes.
 
A layup by Kelly made it a 36-29 game with 3:36 left in the half before Cal took an eight-point advantage (40-32) into the locker room. Kelly opened the game with seven consecutive made baskets and finished the half with 7-of-8 shooting and 14 points. Jarred Hyder tallied nine points while Betley added eight in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
The Bears scored the first five points of the second half to build their lead to 13, but a 11-point rally from Washington made it a 45-43 game and forced a Cal timeout with 15:20 to play. The Huskies continued to control the early stages of the second half, extending their run to 21-5 over six minutes before Betley knocked down a deep 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 53.
 
Continuing the game of runs, Cal scored 12 straight points, including back-to-back shots from beyond the arc by Foreman to go up 67-59 with 7:15 on the clock.
 
Brown's 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining broke a 75-all tie and the sophomore guard followed it up with a driving layup to give Cal an 80-75 lead it wouldn't surrender. A hook-shot jumper from Kelly and two free throws from Grant Anticevich in the waning moments put the game away.
 
UP NEXT
Cal will start its road swing through Mountain schools against Colorado at 11 a.m. PT Thursday, Jan. 14 in Boulder. The contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal men's basketball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMBBall), Instagram (@CalMBBball) and Facebook (/CalMBBall/).