BERKELEY, Calif. — David Kravish made up for a game’s worth of offensive struggles with one big defensive play that put California right back in the Pacific-12 race.
Kravish struggled with his jumper most of the afternoon but forced a key change of possession after tying up Oregon’s Tony Woods with 5.2 seconds remaining, taking away any chance the 10thranked Ducks had of forcing overtime and preserving the Golden Bears’ 58-54 victory on Saturday.
“I didn’t have the timing to jump for it and I saw [Woods] come down, but he kind of brought the ball down,” said Kravish, who had eight points on 4-of-13 shooting. “I had my hand on it, so I knew we had the jump ball.”
Cal’s first victory over a top 10 team in more than five years could be the spark Coach Mike Montgomery has been looking for despite the fact the Bears shot just 35.6 percent, committed 14 turnovers and trailed 50-42 with just over six minutes left. They responded with one of their best defensive stretches of the season to hand the Ducks their second consecutive loss to an unranked team this week.
Justin Cobbs made an 18-foot jumper with 1:35 remaining and then added two free throws after Kravish prevented Woods from getting off a potential tying shot.
Allen Crabbe and Richard Solomon scored 13 points each, and Tyrone Wallace added 12 while helping the Bears (13-8, 5-4 Pac-12) win back-to-back games for the first time since December.
For Oregon, it was the latest setback in what has been a tough week.
The Ducks, coming off a 76-52 loss to unranked Stanford on Thursday, played their third consecutive game without starting point guard Dominic Artis and briefly lost his backup, Johnathan Loyd, to a right hand injury in the first half.
Loyd returned but it didn’t matter much. Oregon (18-4, 7-2) committed 22 turnovers that led to 25 points for Cal, and the Ducks were held scoreless over the final four minutes.
Woods finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Oregon while Arsalan Kazemi added 10 points.
In other Pac-12 games, Brandon Taylor drew a charge with 9.7 seconds left and Glen Dean hit two free throws to help host Utah (10-11, 2-7) survive a late rally to beat Colorado (14-7, 4-5), winning 58-55. ... Aziz N’Diaye converted a three-point play off an offensive rebound with 34 seconds left, Andrew Andrews led Washington (13-9, 5-4) with 20 points off the bench and the host Huskies held off Arizona State (17-4, 6-3) for a 96-92 victory despite 32 points from Sun Devils freshman Jahii Carson.
MOUNTAIN WEST
San Diego State falls
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Michael Lyons scored 20 points and Air Force beat No. 22 San Diego State 70-67 on Saturday, overcoming a 25-point performance by Aztecs star Jamaal Franklin.
Franklin and James Rahon missed potential game-tying three-pointers in the waning seconds.
The Falcons (14-6, 5-2 Mountain West Conference) won their fifth consecutive at Clune Arena, while the Aztecs (16-5, 4-3) lost for only the second time in their past 10 games against Air Force.
In other Mountain West games, Chad Adams hit two three-pointers during a key second-half run to spur No. 20 New Mexico (19-3, 6-1) to a 75-62 victory over visiting Nevada (11-10, 2-5). ... Dorian Green had 15 points to lead five Colorado State players scoring at least 12, and the host Rams (18-4, 5-2) clamped down on Wyoming (15-6, 2-6) for a 65-46 victory. ... Anthony Drmic scored 22 points to lead host Boise State (15-6, 3-4) to a 77-72 victory over UNLV (17-5, 4-3).
Sports, Pages 29 on 02/03/2013