Bears Begin Mark Fox Era Tuesday

Tuesday, November 5

Berkeley, CA

7:00 PM

California

Pepperdine

Buy tickets

11/4/2019 12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes: Pepperdine

Cal Tips Off Against Pepperdine To Open The 2019-20 Season

By: Cal Athletics

The Mark Fox era in Berkeley officially begins Tuesday night when the Golden Bears host Pepperdine to tip off the 2019-20 season. Cal welcomes the Waves for a 7 p.m. contest airing live on the Pac-12 Networks.

The Bears made an exhibition debut last Wednesday against Saint Martin's, topping the Saints 98-75. Cal battled back from only a three-point halftime lead to outscore Saint Martin's 54-34 in the second half. Kareem South paced the Bears with 23 points, while Matt Bradley added 18 points and Grant Anticevich chipped in 13. The Bears also had help from point guards Paris Austin and Joel Brown, who dished out a combined 13 of Cal's 26 assists. South and Brown were two of six newcomers who saw action in the exhibition game, with freshmen Lars Thiemann, Dimitrios Klonaras, D.J. Thorpe and Logan Alters earning time in the win.

Fox makes his return to coaching for the first time since the 2017-18 season and is looking for his 11th win in a season opener as he begins his 15th season as head coach at a Division I program.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Mike Montgomery and Guy Haberman have the call for Tuesday's game, live on Pac-12 Networks. Fans can also tune in at www.Pac-12.com/live or on the Pac-12 Now app. Todd McKim and Rich Cellini will deliver play-by-play and analysis for the California Golden Bears Sports Network on KGO 810 AM and via TuneIn. Live stats, broadcast info and links and more for each of Cal's games this season can be accessed via the Cal men's basketball schedule page on CalBears.com. Fans can follow the Bears on social media via @CalMBball on Twitter and Instagram, and at Facebook.com/CalMBball.

BY THE NUMBERS

26 - The Golden Bears combined for 26 assists with only 6 turnovers in the exhibition against Saint Martin's. Paris Austin led with 7 assists and 0 turnovers, and Joel Brown had 6 assists with 0 turnovers.

1st - Matt Bradley broke the Cal freshman record for 3-point field goal percentage last season, going 50-106 (47.2%) beyond the arc. He shot 4-8 (50.0) from 3-point range in the exhibition win.

56% - Cal's returners combined to average 38.5 points of last year's 68.4 points per game a year ago -- more than 56 percent of its offensive scoring production.

10-4 - Head Coach Mark Fox is 10-4 in season openers in his career, and 2-0 in his first game as a head coach at each school he has coached at.

SCOUTING THE WAVES

• Series Record: Cal leads, 2-0
• Last Meeting: The Bears topped the Waves, 79-62, on Nov. 13, 2012 in Haas Pavilion.
• Pepperdine's 2019-20 Record: Have not played this season
• Pepperdine's Last Game: Have not played this season
• Pepperdine returns 10 letterwinners, including four of the team's top five scorers from a season ago, including Colbey Ross, who led the Waves with 19.4 points per game and 7.03 assists per game.
• Ross was an All-WCC First Team selection last year. Teammates Kameron Edwards and Kessler Edwards made the All-WCC Honorable Mention and All-Freshman teams, respectively.
• Kameron Edwards averaged 14.7 ppg, while Kessler Edwards averaged 10.0 ppg last season. Kameron was the team's leading rebounder with 6.2 boards per game.
• Pepperdine was picked to finish fourth in the WCC this season.

LAST TIME OUT

The Result: California posted a strong 98-75 exhibition win over Saint Martin's.
• The Bears shot 54.4 percent (37-68) from the floor, and 30.7 percent (11-27) from 3-point range.
• Despite leading just 44-41 at halftime, California powered its way to a 54-34 second-half advantage.
• Kareem South paced all scorers with 23 points, and added 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block to his all-around total.
• Matt Bradley (18 points) and Grant Anticevich (13) also scoured in double figures.
• Paris Austin led the Bears in assists with 7.
• Lars Thiemann scored 9 points alongside 5 rebounds, 4 blocks and 1 assist.
• Thiemann was one of five freshmen to see game action. Joel Brown, Logan Alters, D.J. Thorpe and Dimitrios Klonaras all saw time in the exhibition win.

MARK FOX'S DEBUT

As Mark Fox begins his 15th season as an NCAA Division I head coach Tuesday, he looks to improve to a perfect 3-0 in season openers as the new head coach at each of his stops. Fox is 10-4 overall in season openers. With a win over Pepperdine, he would be the 12th head coach in program history to begin his tenure at Cal with a victory.

Fox All-Time In Season Openers
Nevada
2004-05: Win, 88-33 vs. CU-Colorado Springs
2005-06: Win, 82-74 vs. Sac State
2006-07: Win, 85-62 vs. Alaska Anchorage
2007-08: Loss, 63-60 at UCF
2008-09: Win, 72-63 at Montana State

Georgia
2009-10: Win, 67-59 vs. New Orleans
2010-11: Win, 72-70 vs. Miss. Valley State
2011-12: Win, 62-49 vs. Wofford
2012-13: Win, 68-62 vs. Jacksonville
2013-14: Win, 72-52 vs. Wofford
2014-15: Loss, 80-73 at Georgia Tech
2015-16: Loss, 92-90 (OT) vs. Chattanooga
2016-17: Loss, 74-64 at Clemson
2017-18: Win, 79-54 vs. Bryant

OFFSEASON OVERHAUL

Cal's offseason roster overhaul started at the top, with head coach Mark Fox's changes among his coaching staff. He retained assistant coach Marty Wilson and brought on talented recruiters and veteran coaches in Andrew Francis and Chris Harriman. Francis joined the Bears after serving as an assistant under Fran McCaffery at Iowa for nine seasons, while Harriman headed to Berkeley with experience under Rick Majerus (Saint Louis), Tim Miles (Nebraska) and Paul Weir (New Mexico). Fox also brought on longtime colleague, mentor and friend Trent Johnson as Cal's Deputy Analyst & Director of Player Development. He previously helmed the men's basketball programs at Nevada (1999-2004), where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013, as well as at Stanford (2004-08), LSU (2008-2012) and TCU (2012-16).

CAL IN THE PAC-12 PRESEASON POLL

• The Golden Bears are projected to finish 12th in the Pac-12, according to a preseason vote by media who regularly cover the conference.
• Oregon is the favorite to win the conference.
• Cal has finished 12th in the league in each of the last two seasons.

BEARS IN THE NBA

Five Golden Bears are listed on NBA rosters this year: Ryan Anderson (Houston Rockets), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Allen Crabbe (Atlanta Hawks), Ivan Rabb (New York Knicks) and Tyrone Wallace (Atlanta Hawks). Numerous former members of the Golden Bear roster own front-office roles, including G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd, Nets General Manager Sean Marks and Warriors player development coach Theo Robertson, as well as several Bears in scouting and development roles or in the G League, including Marcus Lee (Sioux Falls Skyforce) and Roger Moute a Bidias (RG Vipers).