On Wednesday, Cal men’s basketball defeated Washington State 66-57 to pick up their first road win of the season. It is Cal’s first win in Pullman since 2016 in which Cal won 80-62 behind 17 points and 5 rebounds from Tyrone Wallace. Cal senior point guard Paris Austin led the way for Cal with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists while Washington State junior forward Tony Miller finished with 18 points. Cal improves to 11-15 overall and 5-8 in the Pac-12 while Washington State falls to 14-13 overall and 5-9 in the Pac-12. Cal has equaled the amount of league wins that they had in the past two seasons.

Cal got out to a strong start in this game, leading 10-4 with 14:28 to go in the 1st half. Paris Austin and Grant Anticevich each knocked down a triple while Andre Kelly had 4 points inside. Cal was shooting 4-8 from the field while Washington State was shooting 2-7. The Cougars were missing the presence of their number two scorer Isaac Bonton early.

Cal would extend their lead to go up 17-7 with 10:57 to go in the half. Kareem South was now on the board for Cal with 3 points. CJ Elleby finally scored as well for Washington State with a 3-pointer. Cal was holding Washington State to 3-14 (21.4%) shooting from the field, playing great defense.

Cal would continue to dominate, going up 26-11 with 7:07 to go in the half. Anticevich was up to 8 points as Cal was shooting 10-18 (55.6%) from the field. Matt Bradley had just 2 points, so others were stepping up for Cal. As for Washington State, their shooting woes continued as they were shooting 5-19 (26.3%) from the field.

With 3:19 to go in the half, Cal led 30-16. Matt Bradley had a pretty find inside to Lars Thiemann for the slam. Austin was up to 5 points and 3 assists for Cal. All was going Cal’s way as Washington State continued to struggle. Elleby had just 3 points. With him quiet, the Cougars were playing like garbage. He had to get going for them.

With 37.8 seconds to go in the half, Cal called for time up 32-19. It was a very efficient half from Cal as they were shooting 13-25 (52.0%) from the field with 8 assists and 5 turnovers. Cal would finish the half strong to lead 32-20. Grant Anticevich was leading the way for Cal with his 8 points and 2 rebounds while Tony Miller was doing his part for Washington State with 6 points. As was said earlier, the Cougars really missed the presence of Bonton. Without him, Cal was able to hold Elleby to 3 points and the Cougars to 8-30 (26.7%) shooting from the field and 1-11 (9.1%) shooting from 3-point range.

Coming out of halftime, the Cougars found some life as CJ Elleby was up to 7 points and 6 rebounds. A 3-pointer from Jervae Robinson cut Cal’s lead to 7 points (34-27) with 17:22 to go, forcing Cal to call for time. With 15:59 to go, Cal led 36-27 after a layup from Austin inside. Elleby would go to the line after the break, make both foul shots, making it a 36-29 Cal lead.

With 11:44 to go, Cal would lead Washington State 48-31. Bradley was up to 7 points and 6 rebounds for Cal, finally getting into a bit of a flow offensively. Austin (11 points) and Kelly (12 points) were the leading scorers for Cal. Thiemann was up to 5 points after a 3-point play. Everyone was getting involved for Cal as they were on a 6-0 run.

Washington State didn’t give up, cutting Cal’s lead to single digits (50-41) with 7:16 to go. Robinson and Elleby each had 9 points, doing everything they could to get the Cougars back in the game. As for Bradley, he was up to 9 points and 8 rebounds for Cal, quietly putting together a solid evening.

Cal would continue to lead, up 58-47 with 3:53 to go. Kelly (14 points), Austin (13 points), and Bradley (11 points) were all in double figures. Cal was doing a great job of getting to the foul line where they were 15-15. Without their stellar foul shooting, they would not have had the comfortable lead that they had.

With 2:34 to go, Cal would lead by just six points (58-52) after Tony Miller knocked down a 3-pointer, giving him 16 points on the night. To Washington State’s credit, they continued to battle, not giving up. With 48.8 to go, Cal would lead 62-56, calling for time. Kelly made a clutch basket inside and Austin made a pair of free throws for Cal. Miller made two free throws and Elleby made a tough layup for Washington State.

In the end, Cal would walk out with a 66-57 win after four more free throws made from Paris Austin. He finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists on 12-12 shooting from the foul line. Austin equaled a Cal record for most free throws without a miss in a conference game (Larry Friend went 12-12 against UCLA in 1956). With Matt Bradley having a bit of an off night, it was huge for someone to come through and deliver like Austin did.

For Cal, picking up their first road win of the year is a big deal. Even though Washington State is a weak team and they were without their number two scorer in Isaac Bonton, it’s still significant for Cal to find a way to get it done on the road. They could have caved to the pressure, but they held strong and pulled it out.

Cal by no means played a perfect game. 9 assists and 13 turnovers isn’t very good, but when you hold your opponent to 29.8% shooting from the field and 21.7% shooting from 3-point range, you don’t need to play great offensively. This game was a perfect example of what Cal has been trying to do all year. Play gritty defense and do enough on offense to win. It’s a page out of Brad Gilbert’s book Winning Ugly.

While Cal did win playing ugly basketball, the one area that was quite pretty was their 21-24 (87.5%) shooting from the foul line. Cal did a great job of getting to the foul line and making their foul shots. Foul shooting has been a strength of theirs all year and they did a great job of capitalizing on it.

Up next for Cal is a road game at Washington. That game will tipoff on Saturday at 3:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.