Mady Sissoko had 21 points and 15 returns in California’s victory 82-71 Saturday night over Boston College in Berkeley, Calif.
California (13-16, 6-12 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back after losing five straight overall and three of its previous four home games.
During his first season in the conference, Golden Bears qualified for the ACC tournament with the victory.
Boston College (12-17, 4-14) is 0-9 on the road.
Cal’s Jovan Blacksher Jr. had 18 points, Andrej Stojakovic finished with 15 and Jeremiah Wilkinson had 14.
Boston College was led by Donald Hand Jr.’s 19 points, including a 10-AV-10 performance on the free throw line.
Luka Toews had 14 points and Dion Brown contributed 12 points and 10 returns for Eagles.
Stojakovic and Wilkinson hit 3-points to spark an 11-0 driving, which made it possible for Golden Bears to pull away to a lead of 72-60 with 3:59 left.
Sissoko scored the last five points in that route.
Hand made a can with 1:34 left to reduce the lead to 76-69.
California secured the victory when Sissoko, Blacksher and Stojakovic converted two free -throw attempts per piece after being fouled in the last 1:07.
California opened a lead of 13-2 less than five minutes into the match.
After Sissoko’s 3-pointer gave California 21-8 lead with 10:08 in half, Boston College replied with a 13-3 driving.
Brown’s Jumper with 3:23 Left-cut Cal led to 29-27.
A 13-2 driving put Golden Bears forward 42-29 with less than a minute until half time.
Blacksher scored seven points in that stretch and had 12 at halftime.
Boston College took its first lead at 46-45 with 14:31, at the end of a 13-1 run where the hand had seven points.
Eagles only recorded six assists with 11 sales and shot 4 out of 14 from the 3-point area.
California also had more turnover (13) than assists (11).
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