Ducks’ win over Bears costly
EUGENE, Ore. — Jordan Bell scored a career-high 26 points Thursday night, and Oregon rolled to an 86-63 victory over Cal that was dimmed for the Ducks by an injury to forward Dillon Brooks.
Jabari Bird, who passed the career 1,000-point mark in the Bears’ previous game, had 21 points to lead Cal (13-6, 4-3 Pac-12), which had won three straight and also had won eight of its past 10 meetings with the Ducks.
The Ducks (17-2, 6-0) won their 15th straight game for the first time in 104 years, but Brooks’ injury left them more somber than celebratory.
“It takes a little wind out of your sails,” head coach Dana Altman said.
Brooks, who had offseason surgery on his left foot, limped off the court as Oregon was building a 44-30 halftime lead. Oregon officials tweeted that Brooks had injured his lower left leg.
“He’ll be evaluated the next couple of days and we’ll see where we’re at,” said Altman, who spoke with Brooks but wouldn’t confirm if he had reinjured his left foot.
In his absence, Bell took up the scoring slack by shooting 11-for-12 from the field to go with six rebounds and four blocked shots.
“That’s just a great line,” Altman said. “A few more rebounds and that would have been a spectacular line.”
Bell’s only miss was a desperation three-point try early in the game to avoid a shotclock violation.
The Bears shot 39.7 percent, compared with Oregon’s 58, though Cal did outrebound the Ducks 34-25. Oregon converted 20 Cal turnovers into the same number of points.
“The key to the game was points off turnovers,” Oregon guard Casey Benson said.
Cal leading scorer Ivan Rabb, averaging 14.9 points per game, was held to four on 2-for-10 shooting.