California @ Oregon St. preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2018 ) Oregon St. 70, California 74

After climbing the Pac-12 standings behind a tenacious defensive attack, Oregon State has become much more accommodating in recent weeks. Now in a four-way tie for second in the conference race, the Beavers aim for a return to form Saturday against visiting California, which has lost a school-record 11 straight games.

Oregon State recorded its first conference road sweep since the 2008-09 season with back-to-back wins over Colorado and Utah last week but offered little resistance in Thursday’s 83-60 loss to Stanford. Tres Tinkle and Stephen Thompson Jr. combined for 31 points to lead the Beavers, who allowed the Cardinal to shoot 54 percent and carve out a 41-26 advantage on the boards. “They shot it from three, they got to the rim, they did everything really, really well,” coach Wayne Tinkle told reporters. “And we didn’t do a good enough job. We’ve got to get back to where we’re playing Beaver basketball. Defending, challenging shots, rebounding, executing and making plays.” Oregon State is looking to break a six-game losing streak against Cal, which has dropped 27 of its past 28 conference games – including 13 straight on the road.

TV: 5:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT CAL (5-17, 0-10 Pac-12): Justice Sueing scored in double figures for his fourth consecutive game with 17 points in Wednesday’s 73-62 loss to Oregon while Paris Austin and Connor Vanover added 12 apiece. The Bears are last in the league with a minus-7.1 rebounding margin but have received a boost recently from Vanover, a 7-3 freshman averaging 13.5 points and four rebounds while shooting 53 percent in his last two games. “Everyone can see that, at 7-3, he’s unbelievably skilled,” coach Wyking Jones told reporters. “He’s really put in a lot of work and done a great job in practice. There’s a bright, bright future for Connor.”

ABOUT OREGON STATE (14-8, 6-4): The reigning Pac-12 player of the week, Tinkle is second in the Pac-12 in scoring (20.5), fifth in rebounding (7.9), eighth in assists (4.0) and second in steals (1.7). The team’s imposing frontcourt includes 6-11 senior Gligorije Rakocevic and 7-foot junior Kylor Kelley, who set the school’s single-season blocks record last week and leads the league with 3.6 blocks per game. Opponents are shooting 50.8 percent over the past five games against the Beavers, who have a week off following Saturday’s contest before hosting rival Oregon.

TIP-INS

1. Cal won last season’s meeting 74-60 in Berkeley and holds an 88-62 lead in the all-time series.

2. Oregon State is 11-0 when leading at halftime and 12-0 when leading with five minutes to play.

3. Cal forward Roman Davis has missed the last three games due to back soreness and is listed as day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Oregon State 82, Cal 71