The California Golden Bears won their third straight game as they defeated the Oregon Ducks 85-77 at Haas Pavilion. After blowing an apparent victory against UCLA, Cal has run off wins at USC, versus Oregon State, and now versus Oregon. Cal received an incredibly balanced effort in their victory today as they received 13+ points from four different players. Markhuri Sanders-Frison and Allen Crabbe led the team with 18 points apiece.
The victory improves Cal to 12-9 and 5-4 in the Pac-10. They are now half a game ahead of USC (currently losing at Arizona) and Washington State (inactive today). They trail UCLA by a game, Arizona by 1 1/2 games, and Washington by 3 games.
Although Cal is not that far above .500, they’ve still got a fairly decent RPI ranking (57th) courtesy of the number twelve schedule in the country. With nine games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Bears have a chance to get themselves onto the bubble. Cal faces the last place Arizona State Sun Devils at Haas Pavilion next Thursday, followed by a home game with the Arizona Wildcats. That’s followed by a road game at Washington which makes this arguably the most important stretch of games for Cal.