Pac-12 and Southland basketball: Cold-shooting Jabari Bird makes key shot for Cal

Even as Jabari Bird was mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, California Coach Cuonzo Martin encouraged him to keep shooting.

Bird followed the advice and came through with a pivotal three-point basket to keep the Golden Bears in the thick of things in the Pac-12 Conference.

Bird made a key three-pointer in the final minute, Charlie Moore made two free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining and host California (13-5, 4-2 Pac-12) hung on to beat Washington State, 58-54, on Saturday.

“He has to keep shooting because the shots were there,” Martin said of Bird, who was 0 for 6 from three-point range before his clutch shot. “I don’t know if he was necessarily pressing. The shots didn’t fall.”

Malachi Flynn scored 20 points and Josh Hawkinson had 12 rebounds for the Cougars (9-8, 2-3).

at No. 13 Oregon 84, Oregon State 43: Payton Pritchard had 17 points and the Ducks scored the game’s first 21 points to win their 14th in a row.

Dylan Ennis added 16 points to help Oregon (16-2, 5-0 Pac-12) win their 36th in a row at home. Dillon Brooks and Casey Benson each had 11 points. Drew Eubanks had 19 points to lead the Beavers (4-14, 0-5).

at Stanford 76, Washington 69: Michael Humphrey scored eight of his 18 points in the final 3:36 to help Stanford avoid a second-half collapse. The Cardinal (10-8, 2-4 Pac-12) scored 11 points in a row and closed the game on a 13-6 run.

The Huskies (8-9, 1-4) rallied from a 45-24 deficit to tie the score, 63-63, on David Crisp’s three-pointer with 4:15 left. Crisp finished with 10 points and Markelle Fultz scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half for the Huskies.

SOUTHLAND

Men

at UC Irvine 87, Cal State Fullerton 67: Luke Nelson scored 20 points, Ioannis Dimakopoulos scored 19 and the Anteaters (11-9, 4-0 Big West Conference) ran away from the Titans (8-9, 2-2). The Anteaters shot 71.4% in the second half. Irvine led, 27-7, with 8 minutes 53 seconds left in the first half. The Anteaters pushed the advantage to 56-33 with 15:47 to play on a layup by Dimakopoulos, who scored 13 points in 10 second-half minutes and finished with 19 points. The Titans responded with 11 consecutive points to cut the deficit to 56-44, but Nelson and Dimakopoulous combined for seven points on Irvine’s next three possessions to quell any chance for a Titans comeback. Kyle Allman finished with 13 points for Fullerton.

Santa Clara 75, at Pepperdine 61: Jared Brownridge scored 30 points, 21 in the second half, and the Broncos (10-9, 4-2 West Coast Conference) shot 60% in the second half to pull away. Santa Clara led, 42-28, with 14:31 to play after a 17-4 start to the second half. Lamond Murray Jr. made consecutive three-point baskets to bring the Waves (5-13, 1-5) within eight points but Brownridge answered with three three-pointers in a 78-second span to push the lead to 51-36. Murray finished with 32 points, one shy of his career high. Matt Hauser scored 16 points, KJ Feagin had 11 and Nate Kratch had 10 for Santa Clara. Chris Reyes had 11 points and seven rebounds for Pepperdine.

at UC Santa Barbara 58, Cal Poly 53: Alex Hart had 15 points and 11 rebounds to help the Gauchos (3-12, 1-2 Big West) prevail. The Mustangs (5-12, 0-3) cut the deficit to 55-51 with 32 seconds to play. Clifton Powell Jr. scored 13 points for the Gauchos. Donovan Fields scored 15 points for the Mustangs, who have lost eight games in a row.

Loyola Marymount 79, at Portland 78: Brandon Brown sank the winning layup and Shamar Johnson got a key block to help the Lions clinch the win after trailing by three points with 44 seconds to play. Steven Haney scored 18 points for LMU (9-8, 2-4), which shot 52.6% from the field in a game that featured 12 lead changes. Brown finished with 16, Buay Tuach had 15 and Johnson 11. Alec Wintering paced the Pilots (9-8, 2-3) with 22 points.

UC Davis 71, at Cal State Northridge 68: Brynton Lemar scored 20 points for the Aggies (11-8, 3-1 Big West), who rallied from a one-point deficit after one half. Kendall Smith scored 21 for the Matadors (7-10, 3-1), Aaron Parks had 14 points and Tavrion Dawson had 13 points and nine rebounds.

at Hawaii 114, Long Beach State 107 (OT): Noah Allen, Jack Purchase, and Leland Green all set career highs, each with 25 points, and the Rainbow Warriors never trailed in overtime. Hawaii (7-9, 1-2 Big West) never led in the second half and had their first tie with 23 seconds left in regulation. Justin Bibbins’ free throws with 3.1 seconds put the 49ers (6-14, 1-3) back up at 91-89. But Allen received the inbounds pass at half court, found an open lane straight at the hoop and finished with a buzzer-beating runner off the glass to force overtime. Evan Payne led Long Beach State with 27 points and Noah Blackwell scored 17.

Sunday’s schedule

Women

Oregon at UCLA, 1 p.m.

Oregon State at USC, 3 p.m.