BERKELEY, Calif. — Michael Flowers scored 21 points and went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 31 seconds and Washington State beat California 68-64 on Saturday.
Jalen Celestine’s 3-pointer brought Cal within 66-64 with 35 seconds to go after Flowers made a pair of foul shots with 31 seconds remaining.
After an intentional foul by Cal, WSU’s Noah Williams went to the line and missed the front end of a one-and-one and Grant Anticevich secured the rebound for Cal. But the Bears’ Joel Brown missed a shot attempt with six seconds left, and after getting fouled, Flowers sank a pair to seal it.
Efe Abogidi scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Tyrell Roberts scored 12 and Mouhamed Gueye had 10 for Washington State.
The surging Cougars (14-7, 7-3 Pac-12) now have won five straight. After its 66-60 win at Stanford on Thursday, Saturday’s win over Cal marked the first time since 1993 WSU posted a sweep of the Bay Area schools.
When Flowers hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game it marked the 100th time in his career he reached double digits in scoring. That basket gave the Cougars a 46-38 lead with 13:58 remaining.
Abogidi sank a pair of foul shots with 52 seconds before halftime to break a tie at 31 and Washington State never trailed again.
Reserve Jalen Celestine scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting for Cal. Anticevich, also off the bench, went 6 for 11 and scored and Jordan Shepherd was the only Bears starter with 10 as he missed 13 of 18 shot attempts.
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The Cougars will host No. 7 Arizona on Thursday.
Cal will try to end its 10-game losing streak at Oregon State on Wednesday.
