Oni, Swain help Yale beat Cal 76-59 in Pac-12 China game
SHANGHAI (AP) — Miye Oni scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and Azar Swain also had 16 points to help Yale beat California 76-59 on Friday night in the Pac-12 China game at the Baoshan Sports Center.
Alex Copeland scored 11 and Jordan Bruner had nine points and eight rebounds for Yale (1-0).
Swain hit a 3-pointer that gave Yale the lead for good midway through the first half and sparked a 15-0 run that made it 23-9 with 5:51 left before the break. Cal (0-1) trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Paris Austin, a junior transfer from Boise State, led the Bears with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The rest of the team shot 12 of 41 (29 percent) from the field.
The Bulldogs overcame their 19 turnovers by hitting nine 3-pointers, including four by Swain, and shooting 48 percent overall. Cal made just 5 of 25 from the field in the first half and finished with just six assists.
BIG PICTURE
Yale: The Bulldogs, picked to finish third in the Ivy League, return 95 percent of their offensive production from last season, including Oni. The junior was a unanimous first team all-Ivy selection last season while leading Yale in scoring (15.1 per game), rebounding (6.1) and total assists (105). A win over a Pac-12 team, albeit a young one, is an encouraging start.
Cal: The Bears have six freshmen and five sophomores on the roster — and zero seniors — and are coming off a last-place finish in conference play last season. They struggled to knock down shots and get stops against the Bulldogs, something that will have to change if Cal wants to climb out of the Pac-12 basement.
UP NEXT
Yale is off until it plays at Memphis on Nov. 17.
Cal plays host to Hampton on Tuesday in a regional game of the Legends Classic.
