Originally published February 28, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified February 29, 2008 at 3:16 AM

Rochestie, Weaver lead No. 22 WSU to 70-49 victory over Cal

Taylor Rochestie scored 18 points, Kyle Weaver added 17 and defense-minded No. 22 Washington State showed off its offensive skills as well in a 70-49 victory over California on Thursday night.

The Associated Press

Game stats

BERKELEY, Calif. – Taylor Rochestie scored 18 points, Kyle Weaver added 17 and defense-minded No. 22 Washington State showed off its offensive skills as well in a 70-49 victory over California on Thursday night.

The Cougars (22-6, 10-6 Pac-10) shot 54 percent, going 8-for-17 on 3-pointers to win for the fifth time in six games with one of their best offensive performances in conference play this season.

Everything came easy for Washington State against the Golden Bears (15-11, 6-9). The Cougars even scored on a rare alley-oop pass from Rochestie to Robbie Cowgill to take a 64-46 lead with less than seven minutes to go.

The Cougars' defense also shone as usual in a matchup between the conference's highest-scoring and stingiest teams. Cal played from behind after missing seven of its first eight shots. The Bears never found their touch from long distance, missing 16 of 18 3-pointers

The Bears shot 37 percent overall and finished 28 points below their conference leading scoring average of 77.8 points per game.

Instead it was the Cougars who had the outside shot working. Derrick Low hit consecutive 3s midway through the second half to give Washington State a 53-38 lead. Rochestie added his fourth 3 a few minutes later and the Cougars coasted to the win.

Low finished with 15 points and Aron Baynes added 10 before fouling out for the Cougars, who remained in third place in the conference, a half-game ahead of Southern California.

Ryan Anderson scored 17 points to lead Cal, but shot only 5-for-15. The Cougars did an outstanding job shutting down the Bears' second-leading scorer, Patrick Christopher, who had two points on 1-for-6 shooting.

By losing for the fourth time in five games, the Bears' probably need to win the Pac-10 tournament next month to have any shot at making the NCAA tournament. Cal fell to 2-6 at home in conference play.

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