Cal Basketball: No. 13 Oregon Crushes Cal; Mark Fox Disappointed

Cal's two-game winning streak came to a screeching halt in Eugene, Ore., on Thursday, when 13th-ranked Oregon crushed Cal 90-56.

Cal coach Mark Fox was clearly unhappy with his team's performance.

"I was disappointed with our approach to the game," Fox said, "but give credit to Oregon, they played very well."

Cal lost to Oregon by five points earlier this year in Berkeley, but the Bears were never in Thursday's game.

"We weren't surprised with one thing [Oregon did]," Fox said. "The only thing that surprised me was our poor approach and very poor start to the game.

"I don't want to take anything away from Oregon, because they've got a great team, and they're still playing for the championship, but I had hoped that we'd give them a better fight tonight.

"Played poorly, top to bottom, coached poorly."

Payton Pritchard collected 20 points and nine assists for Oregon. He was 6-of-8 from the field, 3-for-3 on three-pointers and 5-for-5 from the foul line.

The Ducks (23-7, 12-5 Pac-12) moved into a first-place tie with UCLA with one game left. Oregon, which is 16-0 at home, hosts Stanford on Saturday.

Oregon shot 59.6% from the field for the game, including 68% in the first half, when the Ducks led by as many as 29 points late in the half and by 26 points at intermission. Oregon was 12-for-17 on three-point shots for the game.

And they did it without Chris Duarte, the Ducks' second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, who is out with a broken right pinkie finger.

The Bears slipped to 13-17 overall and 7-10 in the Pac-12 with one regular-season game left on Saturday at Oregon State. Matt Bradley was Cal's leading scorer with 15 points.

Pre-game: Cal is on the road against an Oregon team that is 15-0 at home and needs to win its final two games against Cal and Stanford to assure itself of at least a share of the Pac-12 regular-seasob title.

Oregon started the day a half-game behind first-place UCLA, which plays at USC on Saturday.

That makes things difficult for the Bears, who have won just one road game this season (Washington State). But the Bears come into Thursday's game on a two-game winning streak, having defeated nationally ranked Colorado and Utah in their final two home games last week.

The Ducks (22-7 overall, 11-5 Pac-12 before Thursday's action) are the only ranked team in the Pac-12, entering Thursday's game with a No. 13 ranking. They also have the presumptive Pac-12 player of the year in Payton Pritchard, but they are without Chris Duarte.

The Bears (13-16, 7-9 before Thursday) counter with the Pac-12 player of the week -- Matt Bradley, who scored 26 points in the upset of Colorado and 21 in the win lover Utah.

Oregon beat Cal 77-72 in Berkeley back on Jan. 30. Pritchard had 21 points in that game, and Bradley had 25.

The Bears entered the game have a mathematical chance to finish with a .500 record in Pac-12 plays. The Bears finish off the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Oregon State. Cal beat the Beavers in Berkeley earlier this season.

The Pac-12 tournament starts next week in Las Vegas. Cal started the day holding the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament, although that could change based on this week's results.

Follow along as we provide updates during the game, which begins at 8 p.m.

Cal starting lineup: G Paris Austin, G Kareem South, G Matt Bradley, F Grant Anticevich, F D.J. Thorpe.

Oregon starting lineup: G Will Richardson, G Payton Pritchard, G Anthony Mathis, F Shakur Juiston, F Chandler Lawson

18:45 first half: Oregon mades its first two shots, and Matt Bradley responds with a three-pointer. Oregon 4, Cal 3.

13:28 first half: Oregon made 7 of its first 9 shots, and Payton Pritchard has five points, including a long three-pointer. Anticevich has five for Cal. Oregon 16, Cal 10.

10:58 first half: Pritchard has eight points for Oregon, which is 8-for-11 from the field. Oregon 19, Cal 13.

7:49 first half: Three Cal players -- Bradley, Anticevich and Kareem South -- have five points apiece. No other Cal player has scored. The Ducks had a 10-point lead briefly at 23-13. Oregon 23, Cal 15.

6:14 first half: Oregon has made all four of its three-point attempts, including two by Pritchard, who has 11 points. Oregon 31. Cal 18.

3:57 first half: Oregon is in the midst of a 14-0 run that increased the lead to 21 points. The Ducks are shooting 75% from the field. Oregon 39, Cal 18.

3:07 first half: It's now an 18-0 run for Oregon. Oregon 43, Cal 18.

Halftime: Oregon is in complete control. It used a 21-0 run late in the first half to take command. The Ducks shot 68% from the field in the first half, and they hit 5-of-6 three-point shots and 7-of-7 free throws. Pritchard has 13 points, and Will Richardson has 10. Cal shot 33.3% from the floor, and Bradley leads the Bears with eight points. Cal went 5:28 without scoring a point to let Oregon get away. Cal scored two points over the final seven minutes of the half. Oregon 46, Cal 20

15:22 second half: Anticevich and Bradley have 10 points apiece. Oregon got its lead up to 29 points briefly. Oregon 53, Cal 29.

11:41 second half: Cal shows some life on offense with a 7-0 run and cutting the margin to 15 points. The Bears have already scored more points in the second half than they did in all of the firt half. Oregon 58, Cal 43.

9:33 second half: Cal's surge is short-lived. Oregon has five players with double-figure scoring, led by Pitchard with 18. Oregon 66, Cal 43.

7:59 second half: More of the same. Oregon 71, Cal 46.