Oregon Basketball: Kazemi’s 18 Rebounds Not Enough, Ducks Lose to Cal 48-46

The Cal Bears(17-9, 9-5 Pac 12) look like a team that is ready to make a run, and they may get the opportunity to do just that in the NCAA Tournament. The Oregon Ducks(21-6, 10-4) look to be a team this late in the season that is missing it’s Freshman Guard Dominic Artis and we can hope that he returns soon so the offense can get into some sort of sync before the NCAA Tournament.

Feb, 21, 2013; Eugene, OR, USA; California Golden Bears guard Justin Cobbs (1) shoots and make the final shot against the Oregon Ducks 48-46 California Golden Bears at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Dana Altman’s team was unable to finish off the Bears as Cal Junior Justin Cobbs hit the game winning shot with just under a second to go for the 48-46 victory as Altman’s was going for his 600th win his coaching career in his 100th game as Oregon head coach. He has yet to beat the Cal Bears with the Ducks who now have won 11 in a row.

"“That’s really a disappointing loss. The guys played awfully hard, but you got to hit some shots. We had     some open looks and didn’t knock them down.”  Head Coach Dana Altman on the game"

Three point shooting wasn’t either teams strong suit Thursday night. The long shots were not falling for either team. Both teams combined were 3-21 from beyond the line and Oregon only had two. The Ducks did take a 26-21 lead into halftime led by Arsalan Kazemi with a monster jam just before the break.

Oregon shot a season low 26.7 percent for the game, (16-58). The Ducks made 12-20 free throws.

One of the brighter spots on the night was Arsalan Kazemi, with 11 points and a season high 18 rebounds. Junior Johnathan Loyd, in for the injured Dominic Artis, had a career high 5 steals.

Pac 12 Player of the Week and the Conference’s leading scorer Allen Crabbe had 12 points on 5-12 shooting.

"“Just the whole game I felt like I had a lot of mental lapses and I owed it to my team. I’ve been working on my jump shot a lot and I knew if I got the ball in the right spot I’d be able to knock it down.” Cal Junior Justin Cobbs on the game winning shot"

Oregon(21-6, 10-4 Pac 12) is now tied with Arizona(22-4, 10-4 Pac 12) at the top of the Pac 12 Standings.

The Ducks look to bounce back and split this homestand with the Stanford Cardinal(16-11, 7-7) on Saturday night(5pm, Pac 12 Network).

Oregon Ducks This Week:

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Justin Phillips is Sports Reporter for Newsradio 1120 KPNW in Eugene, Oregon.