BERKELEY, Calif. — Richard Solomon had 12 points and nine rebounds, Tyrone Wallace added 13 points and California remained unbeaten in Pac-12 Conference play with a 76-51 win over Washington State on Saturday.
The Golden Bears (14-4, 5-0 Pac-12) had to weather an early 18-4 run by the Cougars, then pulled away in the second half to secure their sixth straight win. It extended Cal’s best start in conference since winning opening 7-0 in 2003.
Solomon fell one rebound shy of a seventh double-double this season but helped the Bears stay perfect in the Pac-12 with four dunks in the second half. Three of them came on consecutive possessions while the fourth put Cal up 63-46.
D.J. Shelton scored 17 points with 11 rebounds for Washington State, which played its fourth straight game without leading scorer DaVonte Lacy.
The win allowed Cal to keep pace in the Pac-12 with unbeaten No. 2 Arizona. The two teams play Feb. 1 at Haas Pavilion.
Bears coach Mike Montgomery, in his sixth season at Cal, also moved into a tie with Lou Campanelli for the third-most wins in school history
Justin Cobbs had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Bears, who outscored the Cougars 40-10 in the paint.
Without Lacy, who is out with a rib injury after missing two games earlier this season due to appendicitis, Washington State (8-10, 1-5) couldn’t keep up with Cal despite a strong run in the first half.
The Cougars fell behind 6-0 before switching to a 1-1-3 zone that the Bears struggled adjusting to.
Shelton scored six points during the run and Que Johnson added five, while Royce Woolridge’s layup put Washington State up 18-10.
Cal came back to lead 34-33 at the break then pulled away in the second half.
Jordan Mathews and Jeff Powers made 3-pointers and Solomon had a dunk on three straight possessions to put the Bears up 50-37. After an intentional foul by the Cougars, David Kravish scored on a short jumper that pushed Cal’s lead to 17.
Coming off a 32-point loss to Stanford on Wednesday, Washington State never got out of its offensive rut and remained winless at Haas Pavilion since 2008. The Cougars managed only a pair of baskets by Shelton through the first nine minutes of the second half, trailed by as much as 23, and shot just 34.0 percent overall.
