Jaylen Brown helps Cal stop Arizona State 75-70

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Jaylen Brown scored five points of his 17 points over the final 80 seconds and California held off a late surge to beat Arizona State 75-70 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Golden Bears (13-6, 3-3 Pac-12) led by 14 midway through the second half before the Sun Devils stormed back to tie the game at 65 with 2:25 remaining.

California freshman Ivan Rabb made a tiebreaking free throw then blocked a shot at the other end. After Brown made one of two free throw attempts, the Bears blocked another shot and Brown followed with a fastbreak layup to make it 69-64.

Brown added two more free throws before fouling out with 18.5 seconds left and California made 6 of 6 from the line inside 27 seconds to remain unbeaten in 12 home games this season.

Rabb finished with a season-high 20 points with eight rebounds and six assists for the Bears, who played without injured leading scorer Tyrone Wallace. Jabari Bird and Jordan Mathews added 10 points apiece.

Obinna Oleka had 14 points and six rebounds, while Eric Jacobsen added 10 points and seven rebounds for Arizona State (11-8, 1-5).

The Sun Devils had won the last five matchups against the Bears.

Both teams got off to sluggish starts before the Bears pulled away.

Rabb got California going midway through the first half when he scored 10 points over a six-minute stretch. Sam Singer -- making his first start since Feb. 21, 2015 -- had assists on four of Rabb's five baskets during the run to help the Bears build a 38-30 halftime lead.

Arizona State, which shot just 34.6 percent in the first half, stayed close by repeatedly getting to the free throw line. The Sun Devils also got a lift from Andre Spight, who made back-to-back baskets and scored eight of his 12 points before halftime.

TIP-INS

Arizona State: The Sun Devils went into the game as the worst 3-point shooting team in the conference and opened by missing eight of their first 10 from beyond the arc. . Seven of Arizona State's first 11 points came on free throws. . Spight's four-point play in the second half sparked a 17-5 run that pulled the Sun Devils within 59-57 with 8 minutes remaining.

California: Wallace, the 11th-leading scorer in school history, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after breaking his right hand during practice over the weekend. Wallace watched the game from the bench with his hand heavily bandaged. . Kingsley Okoroh was called for a flagrant 1 foul in the first half, resulting in a technical. . Singer had eight assists in the first 14 minutes. . The Bears had not beaten the Sun Devils since Feb. 4, 2012.

UP NEXT

Arizona State: At Stanford on Saturday.

California: Hosts No. 12 Arizona on Saturday.