BERKELEY, Calif. — N’Faly Dante had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, Will Richardson added 11 points and 10 assists and Oregon beat California 87-58 Wednesday night.
Rivaldo Soares led Oregon (11-8, 5-3 Pac-12) with 13 points and Keeshawn Barthelemy scored 10.
ND Okafor and Sam Alajiki made layups 31 seconds apart to give the Golden Bears a 10-5 lead about five minutes into the game but Dante made back-to-back baskets, Barthelemy added a layup and Richardson scored the final four points in 10-0 run that gave Oregon the lead for good. Quincy Guerrier made a layup and then converted a three-point play to cap a string of 11 straight Oregon points and make it 30-17 with 3 minutes to go before halftime.
Oregon shot a season-high 60% (31 of 52) from the field and hit nine 3-pointers.
The Bears have lost three in a row.
Alajiki made a layup to open the scoring in the second half and cut Cal’s deficit to 11 points but the Bears went scoreless for the next nearly-four minutes and Oregon scored the first 11 points in a 16-3 run that culminated when Jermaine Couisnard hit a 3-pointer to make it 50-26 with 14:45 remaining.
The Bears won the lone meeting between the teams last season, 78-64, to snap a nine-game losing streak in the series.