There’s something about the Oregon Ducks that brings out the best in Amit Tamir. And there’s something about the Bay Area that brings out the worst in the Ducks.
Tamir, California’s 6-foot-11 sophomore center from Jerusalem, Israel, continued his hot hand against Oregon, scoring a game-high 25 points in the Golden Bears’ 88-72 win Thursday night at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.
Tamir scored a career-high 39 points in Cal’s 107-103 double-overtime victory over the Ducks in Berkeley last year.
“Tamir seems to just love seeing Oregon walk in the gym,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent told KUGN-radio after the game. “We’re still not there yet. We’re pretty good at home, but we’re still figuring things out on the road.”
Luke Jackson had 17 points on 2-for-5 shooting (12-of-14 free throws) and Luke Ridnour added 14 points on 4-for-14 shooting, as the No. 12 Ducks (10-3 overall, 1-2 Pacific-10 Conference) shot .444 against the Bears (9-2, 2-0). Oregon also committed 19 turnovers in its first conference road game of the season.
“I felt like we never had momentum from start to finish,” Kent said. “It ended up being a tough lesson for us.”
On a positive note, the Ducks held a 30-29 rebounding advantaging, which has been a sore spot for Oregon all year.
The Bears shot .536 for the game, including 7-of-18 three-pointers. Tamir’s trey with about five minutes left gave Cal a 76-56 lead, the largest of the game. Oregon never led in the game.
“We’ve got to understand that we’re going to get everybody’s best game,” Kent said. “If you’re not ready for that, you’re going to put yourself in a hole.”
Cal jumped out to a 9-2 lead early as Oregon committed six turnovers in four minutes.
Andre Joseph entered the game early and hit consecutive three-pointers to get the Ducks within one at 9-8. He finished with 12 points.
Joe Shipp (22 points) hit a short jumper in the closing seconds of the first half to give Cal a 43-33 lead at the half, capping off a 14-4 run. Oregon had gone on an 11-0 run earlier in the half to tie the game at 27.
Oregon’s Ian Crosswhite, a redshirt freshman center, continued to struggle Wednesday, scoring just four points and fouling out late in the game. He had just two points in two minutes in a win over Arizona State last week and four points on 2-of-12 shooting in a loss to Arizona. Crosswhite, who prior to this road trip averaged 10.3 points per game, has made 5-of-21 field goals in the last three games.

A Cardinal sin
The Ducks’ first Pac-10 road trip does not get any easier.
Stanford (10-4, 1-1), which defeated Oregon State, 57-54, Thursday, hosts Oregon at 2 p.m. Saturday at Maples Pavilion.
In five tries with the Ducks, Kent has never won at Maples. Oregon’s last win at Stanford was on Jan. 13, 1986 — by a score of 83-69 — a streak that spans 17 games.
Oregon nearly broke that streak last season, but a long three-pointer by Tony Giovacchini with four seconds left sent the game into overtime. The Ducks eventually lost 90-87.
Only three Cardinal players who scored in that win over the Ducks are on this season’s roster. Guard Julius Barnes leads Stanford with 14.3 points per game, while forward Josh Childress averages 14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds.