BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will cap its season-opening four-game homestand against Montana State with a late-night tilt Thursday. Tipoff from Haas Pavilion is slated for 8 p.m. PST with the Pac-12 Network broadcasting the nonconference contest.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Thursday, Nov. 16 | 8 p.m. PST

• Location: Berkeley, California | Haas Pavilion
• Watch: Pac-12 Network (Bay Area) | Barry Tompkins (PxP) & Dan Belluomini (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP) & Theo Robertson (Analyst)
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

 
LATINO HERITAGE NIGHT
Thursday's game is Latino Heritage Night at Haas Pavilion. The National Anthem will be performed by a Mariachi band and the first 250 students in attendance will receive free food from University Taqueria.
 
LAST TIME
The Golden Bears (2-1) rebounded from a loss to Pacific last Friday with an 83-63 victory against CSU Bakersfield on Monday, which saw all five starters score double figures including a game-high 23 by Jalen Cone and a near triple-double from Jaylon Tyson, who amassed 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
The Bears and Bobcats (1-1) haven't met on the hardwood since a pair of games played in back-to-back seasons in 1984 and 1985. Cal won both of those meetings, most recently 69-65 on Dec. 7, 1985, in Bozeman, Montana. The first meeting was a 73-45 Cal victory in Berkeley on Dec. 22, 1984. Cal assistant coach Ken Moses spent two seasons on staff at Montana State (2020-22) and helped the Bobcats to two of their most successful seasons before joining Mark Madsen at Utah Valley. Blaire Braxton, Cal's Director of Men's Basketball Business Operations, is one of the most recognizable faces in Montana State women's basketball, having played a program-record 125 games from 2016-20.

NOTEWORTHY

• Cone accounted for seven of Cal's 15 made 3-pointers in Monday's win over CSU Bakersfield. The 15 makes from behind the arc were one shy of tying a school record, while Cone tied his career best of seven for the sixth time.
• Tyson has double-doubled in both games played this season. Along with his near triple-double on Monday, the junior posted 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 11 boards against Pacific last Friday.
• Fardaws Aimaq, a Preseason All-Pac-12 Second-Team selection, is averaging 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. His 16-point, 11-rebound double-double in the season opener was the 45th of his career.
• The Bears dished out 18 assists to just eight turnovers in their 20-point win against CSU Bakersfield. It was just the eighth time they've tallied 18-plus assists in a single game since the start of the 2017-18 season.
• Cal has won the rebounding battle in all three games so far this season, including a 45-to-33 advantage Monday. Four Bears – Tyson (12), Grant Newell (8), Devin Askew (7) and Aimaq (7) – pulled down at least seven boards apiece.

 
UP NEXT
Cal will face UTEP in the semifinal round of the SoCal Challenge on Monday in San Juan Capistrano. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. PST at The Pavilion with CBS Sports Network televising the contest. It's the first of three games that Cal will play in Southern California next week.
 
STAY POSTED
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