MBK: Cold shooting Cougs fall to Cal at Beasley

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Paris Austin scored 19 points and Andre Kelly added 16 to lead California to a 66-57 victory over Washington State on Wednesday night.

Austin went just 3 of 8 from the field but was 12 of 12 from the charity stripe. Kelly was 8-of-11 shooting.

Matt Bradley scored 11 points for California (11-15, 5-8 Pac-12), which snapped a four-game losing streak with its first Pac-12 road victory of the season.

Washington State (14-13, 5-9 Pac 12) struggled to find good looks at the basket without starting point guard Isaac Bonton, who suffered a leg injury in the Cougars 86-83 overtime loss against UCLA last week.

After shooting 29% in their last matchup against USC without Bonton, including 2 of 26 from 3-point range, Washington State shot 30% against the Golden Bears, going 5 of 23 from beyond the arc. Leading scorer CJ Elleby, who averages 18.7 points per game, was held 13 points on 4 of 18 shooting. Tony Miller led the way for the Cougars with 18 points.

Washington State has now lost three in a row for the first time this season.

"We are feeling down a little bit to be honest,” said Washington State coach Kyle Smith. “I thought we would come home and have a little spark but like I said our roles have changed without Isaac and sometimes you are just uneasy with each other in different roles.

"I try to do what I can to make it a little easier on them but it is a challenge. I’m proud of these guys. They battled but we put ourselves into to big of a hole and that hurts.”

The Golden Bears jumped out to an 30-13 lead late in the first half as the Cougars struggled to make a basket, shooting just 27% from the field including 1 of 11 from 3-point range. At the break California was up 32-20.

The Cougars cut the Golden Bear lead to 60-54 with under two minutes to play after Miller scored a quick seven points, however, it was to little to late. Austin made six shots from the free throw line to close out the Cougars.

BIG PICTURE: Washington State continues to struggle making baskets without Bonton in the lineup and have now lost three in a row for the first time this season. Bonton hopes to return for the Stanford matchup this weekend.

UP NEXT: Washington State hosts Stanford on Sunday in the final home game of the 2019-20 season.