By Morris Phillips

Klay Thompson—on his day off from his duties with the Warriors and sitting courtside at Haas Pavilion on Sunday—hadn’t seen it or done it.

For that matter, Coach Mike Montgomery didn’t see it in any of the six seasons that he coached in Berkeley.

The closest occurrence in Montgomery’s span was Thompson’s freshman year when he hit back-to-back three pointers to tie the Washington State-Cal game in Berkeley 60-60 with less than three minutes remaining.  But Jerome Randle and the Bears scored 11 of the game’s final 14 points and edged the Cougars 71-63.

So it hadn’t been since 2008 that WSU defeated Cal in Berkeley until Sunday, when the Cougars had to hold on for dear life in a 69-66 win that was a nail biter despite Cal trailing for the entire second half with the exception of one tie, 32 apiece, with 16 minutes remaining.

In addition to all the losing in Berkeley, the Cougs hadn’t won a Pac-12 road game in over a year, a span of 15 conference road games.   Under first-year coach Ernie Kent, WSU had dropped all four road tests this season: at UTEP, at TCU, at Santa Clara and at Stanford.

“To be on the road and have the first Pac-12 win in conference on the road is huge,” Kent said.  “You’re getting an opportunity to see some players growing up in front of your eyes.”

Growth wasn’t part of the synopsis for Cal, who ended their seven-game home stand with a so-so 4-3 mark.  The Bears shot 37 percent from the field and had huge scoring droughts in both halves.

“I think the biggest key for those guys… is to get offensive rebounds and to rely on defending, rebounding and playing hard,” Coach Cuonzo Martin said.  “The other thing is just driving the ball.  We’ve got to get to the rim to force the referees to make the call.”

The Bears continue to play without Jabari Bird, who missed his ninth straight game, and the strain on the Pac-12’s second leading scorer, Tyrone Wallace, is starting to show.  Wallace missed 26 of 34 shots in the weekend split against the Washington, including 4 of 14 on Sunday.

Senior David Kravish struggled too.  The senior center made 2 of his nine shots and the reluctant offensive post can’t have off nights if the Bears are to stay in the top half of the conference standings.

Josh Hawkinson, an emerging player for WSU on the baseline, had 18 points and 13 rebounds and gave Kravish and company fits with his activity.  The Cougs out-rebounded Cal 38-34 and looked like the better team on the afternoon.

The Bears were led by Jordan Mathews with 24 points, but went nearly nine minutes without a bucket in the first half, allowing WSU to increase their led.  The Bears’ surge near game’s conclusion brought them within a made-three pointer at the buzzer, but Mathews’ 3-point attempt at the buzzer came up short.

The Bears (11-4, 1-1) get a short turnaround before visiting USC on Wednesday in Los Angeles.