PULLMAN, Wash. — Noah Williams scored a career-high 32 points with four 3-pointers, nine rebounds, a career-high tying seven assists and three steals as Washington State pounded Cal 82-51 Thursday night, the Cougars largest margin of victory in the history of their series with Cal.
Williams surpassed his previous career high by halftime, putting up 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting — a perfect 4-for-4 from distance — and trailed the entire Cal team by just two points at the break.
The 48-26 lead at the break was WSU’s (13-10, 6-10) highest scoring half and biggest lead in Pacific-12 Conference play this season and Williams’ 24 points were the most scored by a Coug in a half this season, surpassing the 21 put up by Isaac Bonton.
DJ Rodman and Andrej Jakimovski each scored 11 for Washington State, and Efe Agobidi added 10 points and eight rebounds. The Cougars were 52% shooting (30 of 58) and buried 12 of 23 from behind the 3-point arc.
The Cougars had 22 assists on 30 field goals, their first 20-assist game since Feb. 7, 2019.
Cal (8-16, 3-14) lost for the 10th time in 11 road games this season. The Bears finished with 36% shooting but were at 29% with under five minutes to go in the second half. Cal made just 5 of 17 from distance.
Matt Bradley, who was cleared to play despite being under the weather, led Cal with 16 points in 23 minutes. Andre Kelly added 10 points. The Bears were 18 of 50 from the field.
Williams kicked off a 17-3 spurt in the middle of the second half, featuring three consecutive 3-pointers from Rodman (two) and Jakimovski for a 33-point lead with 7:41 remaining.
Bonton missed a second straight game with what was listed as a lower leg injury. He entered the week having scored 20-plus points in four of WSU’s last six games.
Cal continues its Pacific Northwest road swing with a game at Washington on Saturday. Washington State entertains Stanford on Saturday.
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