By JEFF FARAUDO , Associated Press
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Jaylen Nowell scored 23 points and Washington used a 16-2 run midway through the second half to pull away to a 68-51 victory over California in Pac-12 Conference play on Saturday.
The Huskies (19-10, 9-7), rebounding nicely from a poor performance in a loss at Stanford on Thursday, also got 16 points and nine rebounds from Noah Dickerson.
Cal led 43-39 when two free throws by Dickerson triggered a decisive six-minute run. Dickerson had eight points in the burst, including a spinning drive through the lane that made it 55-45 with 10:20 left.
But the memorable play during the UW rally was a spectacular right-handed tomahawk dunk by freshman Nahziah Carter over Cal walk-on Cole Welle, who had just entered the game as a senior in the Bears’ final home game of the season.
The Washington lead eventually climbed to 64-49 with 3 1/2 minutes left.
Darius McNeill scored all 17 of his points in the first half for the last-place Bears (8-21, 2-14), and fellow freshman Justice Sueing added 12 points.
BIG PICTURE
Washington: When the Huskies beat Arizona 78-75 on Feb. 3, they were riding a four-game win streak and were an NCAA Tournament contender at 17-6. Even after beating Cal, they have won just twice in their past six games and still have work to do to move back into the NCAA conversation.
Cal: The Bears tied their all-time program record with their 21st defeat. Cal has played basketball for 111 seasons, and the only previous team that reached this loss total was the 1978-79 squad (6-21). The Bears also inched closer to finishing alone in last place in the conference for the first time since 1979-80 (3-15).
UP NEXT
Washington plays Oregon State at home on Thursday.
Cal is at Arizona State on Thursday.
