WSU narrowly escapes Berkeley with 68-64 win over Cal

The Washington State Cougars squeaked past the California Golden Bears in Berkeley, 68-64.

WSU (14-7, 7-3 in Pac-12) dodged the late desperation punches from Cal (9-15, 2-11) as the Golden Bears fought their way back into the game late. The Golden Bears had a chance to tie or take the lead with under 10 seconds to go trailing by two, but the short floater with six seconds to go from Joel Brown missed left, allowing the Cougars to grab the rebound, hit their free throws, and leave Haas Pavilion with their first Bay Area sweep since 1993.

On paper, the Cougars were expected to handle the Golden Bears fairly easily. Especially after the Golden Bears learned that they would be without senior…