Oregon held off a pesky Cal team and used an 8-0 run in the closing minutes to pull away from the Golden Bears for a 66-53 win on Thursday night in Berkeley, Calif.
Elijah Brown scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half while MiKyle McIntosh recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Ducks (15-7, 5-4). Freshman Troy Brown Jr. added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes of play.
Oregon turned the ball over 17 times and was outrebounded 36-31 by the Golden Bears (7-16, 1-9), but weathered every run Cal went on. The Ducks also shot 55 percent from the field and 53 percent from three.
The Ducks shot 63 percent from the field in the first half and led by as many as 15 but they saw their lead slip and went to halftime ahead 34-26. Cal continued to chip away at Oregon’s lead in the second half. A Don Coleman three with 8:39 left in the game made it 47-42.
Try as they might, that was as close as the Golden Bears would get. Oregon pushed its lead back to nine with less than six minutes to go but Coleman brought it back within six after converting an and-one.
Coleman paced Cal with 16 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Following Coleman’s and-one with 5:36 left in the game, Elijah Brown hit a three, which was the beginning of an 8-0 run that pushed Oregon’s lead back to 14. Including Brown’s three, Oregon outscored Cal 13-6 over the final 5:36.
It was an ugly win for the Ducks but a needed one. The win moves them into a tie for fifth place in the conference with Utah and Stanford. The Ducks will face Stanford on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Palo Alto.
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris