CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Warith Alatishe scored 16 points, Ethan Thompson added 15 and Oregon State opened the season with a 71-63 win over Pac-12 rival California in what counts as a nonconference game on Wednesday.
The matchup materialized because of the COVID-19 scramble when Colorado State was unable to play in the four-team pod. Northwest University is the fourth team and will play the Pac-12 teams over the next two days.
Zach Reichle and Jarod Lucas scored 11 points apiece for the Beavers who are now 7-0 in openers under coach Wayne Tinkle. Tinkle picked up his 94th win, tied for fourth in school history.
Matt Bradley led the Golden Bears with 21 points.
Oregon State took the lead for good with a 9-0 run that made it 27-20 with just under five minutes to go in the first half. It was 36-31 at the break.
An 8-0 surge midway through the second half pushed the lead to 57-43 but the Bears rallied with a 10-2 surge to get within 67-62 with 1:38 to go. However Lucas and Reichle both made a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Cal and Oregon State will clash twice more this season, Jan. 2 in Corvallis and Feb. 25 in Berkeley.
The last nonconference game between the schools, not counting conference tournament matchups, came in the 1987 NIT. The teams’ last regular season nonconference meeting came at the 1984 Far West Classic in Portland, Ore.
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