USC Roughed Up By California, 87-65
BERKELEY (AP) — Ivan Rabb had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown also scored 18 and California beat Southern California 87-65 on Sunday to finish the season unbeaten at home for the first time in 56 years.
Tyrone Wallace had 12 points and six assists in his final home game for the Golden Bears (21-8, 11-5 Pac-12). Jabari Bird added 12 points while Jordan Mathews had 17.
Brown scored 15 points in the first half while Wallace and Mathews combined for 22 points in the second half.
The win keeps Cal in the hunt for the conference championship.
In order to stay in the hunt, Cal must find a way to win on the road after going 18-0 at Haas Pavilion this season. Overall, the Bears have won 19 straight home games dating to last season — the second-longest streak in school history.
Nikola Jovanovic had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Trojans (19-10, 8-8).
Cal led by as much as 29 and was never challenged after pulling away midway through the first half.
Mathews made three consecutive 3-pointers to put Cal up by 24. Wallace later scored on a one-handed dunk from the baseline to make it 77-51.
USC couldn't keep up and lost for the fifth time in six games.
Brown and Bird combined for 25 points in the first half but it was Cal's defense that made the difference after two consecutive baskets by Jovanovic tied the game at 26.
The Bears went on a 14-0 run over the next 6:46 minutes, capped by a Kameron Rooks layup that made it 40-26.
Brown, who needs 20 points to break Cal's freshman scoring record, had five points during the run then brought the sold-out crowd of 11,858 to its feet with a sparkling play just before halftime.
After Malik Marquetti scored for USC, Brown took an inbound pass from Wallace with 3.8 seconds left in the half and drove the length of the court, past three defenders for a buzzer-beating layup to give Cal a 44-30 lead.
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