College basketball roundup: Cal, Saint Mary’s men fall short

Mouhamed Gueye had 20 points and 10 rebounds, TJ Bamba scored 19 points, and Washington State defeated Cal 63-57 on Saturday in Berkeley 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.

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

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

Gonzaga tops Saint Mary’s for WCC title

Drew Timme scored 19 points and No. 12 Gonzaga clinched a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a 77-68 win over visiting No. 15 Saint Mary’s on Saturday night.

Anton Watson had 17 points and Malachi Smith added 13 off the bench for the Bulldogs, who have won or shared the conference title in 11 straight seasons. Gonzaga (25-5, 14-2) also reached the 25-win mark for the 16th season in a row — and avenged a loss to the Gaels earlier this month in Moraga.

Logan Johnson led the Gaels (25-6, 14-2) with 27 points after a 29-point performance against Pacific in the team’s last game.

Because the teams shared the regular-season title, the WCC will use the NCAA’s NET rankings to determine the top seed for the conference tournament. That’s expected to be determined Sunday. Entering Saturday’s matchup, Saint Mary’s was ranked No. 7 and Gonzaga No. 10 in the NET rankings.

Should the higher seed advance in every round of the conference tourney, the Gaels will face No. 4 seed Loyola Marymount — the only team to beat both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s this season — in the semifinal round.

Saint Mary’s outscored Gonzaga in the second half, but couldn’t overcome a 13-point halftime deficit. A 3-pointer by Joshua Jefferson cut the lead to five with 3:03 to play, but Watson’s dunk and four free throws by Gonzaga pushed the game back to double digits with 1:22 remaining.

Two free throws from Johnson cut the lead to six with 29.8 seconds to play, but a dunk by Timme and free throws from Julian Strawther iced the game.

Gonzaga broke an early deadlock with Saint Mary’s to take an eight-point lead after Randy Bennett turned to his bench for the first time with 11:42 remaining in the first.

The Gaels got within three points, but Smith scored six of his eight first-half points to help Gonzaga close the final six minutes of the half on a 15-7 run. The Zags led by as many as 19 before taking a 13-point lead to the locker room. Saint Mary’s had three separate three-minute stretches without a field goal in the first.

The Zags held Aidan Mahaney scoreless for the first 25 minutes, but Mahaney threatened to be the star for the second straight game. The freshman scored eight points in the second half to close the lead to six, but Gonzaga held him without a field goal the rest of the way.

BYU breezes past San Francisco

Rudi Williams had 21 points in BYU’s 87-61 victory over visiting San Francisco on Saturday.

Williams added seven assists for the Cougars (17-14, 7-9 West Coast Conference). Fousseyni Traore scored 17 points while finishing 7 of 13 from the floor, and added 14 rebounds and five assists. Gideon George shot 5 for 9, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points, while adding six rebounds.

The Dons (18-13, 7-9) were led in scoring by Khalil Shabazz, who finished with 21 points and two steals. Ndewedo Newbury added seven points for San Francisco. Marcus Williams also put up seven points.

BYU took the lead with 13:33 left in the first half and did not give it up. The score was 40-27 at halftime, with Traore racking up 11 points. BYU pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second half to extend a 13-point lead to 23 points. They outscored San Francisco by 13 points in the final half, as Rudi Williams led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points.

San Jose State tops Boise State in overtime

Omari Moore scored 24 points, five in the overtime, as San Jose State beat visiting Boise State 74-68 on Saturday night.

Moore shot 10 for 26, including 4 for 10 from beyond the arc for the Spartans (17-12, 8-8 Mountain West Conference). Robert Vaihola scored 15 points while shooting 5 of 7 from the field and 5 for 8 from the line, and added 11 rebounds. Garrett Anderson recorded 13 points and was 3-of-10 shooting, including 3 for 9 from distance, and went 4 for 4 from the line.

The Broncos (22-7, 12-4) were led by Chibuzo Agbo, who posted 17 points. Boise State also got 14 points from Marcus Shaver Jr. Tyson Degenhart also put up 13 points.

Moore scored nine points in the first half and San Jose State went into the break trailing 31-25. After trailing by seven points in the second half, San Jose State went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 58-58 with six seconds left in the half before finishing off the victory. Moore scored 10 second-half points.

Both teams play Tuesday. San Jose State hosts Colorado State while Boise State hosts San Diego State.

UC Davis slips past Cal Poly

Elijah Pepper had 20 points and visiting UC Davis beat Cal Poly 58-52 on Saturday, handing the Mustangs their 17th straight loss.

Pepper made three 3-pointers and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line for the Aggies (17-12, 10-7 Big West Conference). Ty Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds. Leo DeBruhl scored 11.

Brantly Stevenson led the Mustangs (7-23, 1-17) with 13 points and six rebounds. Alimamy Koroma added nine points.

Both teams next play Thursday. UC Davis hosts UC Santa Barbara, while Cal Poly visits UC San Diego.

Pacific holds off Portland

Cam Denson’s 12 points off of the bench led Pacific to an 81-77 victory over visiting Portland on Saturday night.

Denson had seven rebounds for the Tigers (14-17, 7-9 West Coast Conference). Luke Avdalovic also scored 12 points, going 4 of 10 (2 for 7 from distance). Jordan Ivy-Curry, Greg Outlaw and Tyler Beard added 11 points apiece.

The Pilots (13-18, 5-11) were led in scoring by Moses Wood, who finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Portland also got 16 points and six rebounds from Kristian Sjolund. Vasilije Vucinic also had 10 points and six rebounds.

Pacific went into the half ahead of Portland 38-37. Greg Outlaw scored nine points in the half. Pacific pulled off the victory after an 8-0 second-half run erased a four-point deficit and gave them the lead at 52-48 with 14:27 left in the half. Ivy-Curry scored nine second-half points.

Montana slips past Sacramento State

Aanen Moody’s 23 points helped Montana defeat visiting Sacramento State 74-72 on Saturday night.

Moody made a pair of free throws to give the Grizzlies a 73-69 lead with five seconds left.

Moody was 8-of-16 shooting, including 3 for 6 from distance, and went 4 for 5 from the line for the Grizzlies (15-13, 9-7 Big Sky Conference). Josh Vazquez scored 18 points while going 6 of 12 (4 for 9 from distance). Josh Bannan recorded 13 points.

The Hornets (13-17, 6-11) were led in scoring by Zach Chappell, who finished with 22 points and four assists. Akolda Mawein added 15 points for Sacramento State. In addition, Callum McRae finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Streaking Santa Clara rolls past San Diego

Brandin Podziemski finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds to power visiting Santa Clara to its seventh straight win with an 81-63 victory over San Diego on Saturday night.

Podziemski also had five assists for the Broncos (23-8, 11-5 West Coast Conference). Camaron Tongue scored 13 points and Christoph Tilly added 12.

The Toreros (11-19, 4-12) were led by Marcellus Earlington with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jase Townsend added 11 points and Deuce Turner scored nine.

Podziemski had 11 points in the first half and Santa Clara led 41-21 at intermission.