BERKELEY – Following its largest defeat of the season on Friday night, the California men's basketball team will look to end the 2023 calendar year on a high note when it hosts Arizona State on New Year's Eve. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. PST in Haas Pavilion with the Pac-12 Network televising the contest.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Sunday, Dec. 31 | 5 p.m. PST
• Location: Berkeley, California | Haas Pavilion
• Watch: Pac-12 Network | Roxy Bernstein (PxP) & Ben Braun (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP) & Theo Robertson (Analyst)
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
The Sun Devils arrive in Berkeley fresh off a 76-73 win at Stanford on Friday, which helped them improve to 7-5 overall. The win snapped a three-game skid for Arizona State that stretched back to Dec. 9. Cal (4-8, 0-1) has lost two in a row to Arizona State, including a 70-62 overtime loss at home in their only meeting last season. Cal's lone win over Arizona State in the past 10 meetings was a decisive 74-50 contest in Berkeley on Jan. 2, 2022; it is still Cal's largest margin of victory in a Pac-12 game since Feb. 24, 2017.
 
LAST TIME
Caleb Love scored 22 points and Oumar Balllo had his third consecutive double-double to lead No. 4 Arizona to a 100-81 win over Cal in the Pac-12 opener for both on Friday night. Balllo finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (10-2, 1-0). Pelle Larsson added 12 points and seven assists. Motiejus Krivas scored 18. Jaylon Tyson had 22 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year and Jalen Celestine added 14 points as the Bears lost for the seventh time in nine games.
 
Arizona sped to an early lead and extended that advantage to 31 points. The Wildcats never trailed in the game and led by double digits over the final 34 minutes on the way to their 14th straight win against Cal. The Bears put up 55 second-half points, their most in a half this season, but could not pull closer than 19. Tyson poured in 19 of his 22 points after halftime while Cal knocked down 19 of its 28 field goals over the final 20 minutes.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• Cal's 100-81 loss to No. 4 Arizona on Friday was its largest margin of defeat this season. Five of the Bears' eight losses have been by three points or fewer or have come in overtime.
• Cal is averaging 76.4 points per game this season, a 12.1-point increase from its 64.3 PPG average over the previous six seasons (2017-23). It's an 18.1-point jump from last season's average of 58.3 PPG.
• Jaylon Tyson scored 22 points and hauled in 10 rebounds in Cal's loss to No. 4 Arizona on Friday night. He's the first Golden Bear with three games of 20 and 10 in the same season since Andre Kelly in 2021-22. Tyson has scored 20-plus points in seven of 11 games played this season.
• Fardaws Aimaq's eight double-doubles pace the Pac-12 and are tied for third nationally. The big man's rebounding prowess – he leads the Pac-12 in all but one rebounding category, including rebounds per game (10.3) – has played a key role in Cal winning the battle on the glass eight times in 12 games.
• Cal is the only Pac-12 team with two players that rank in the top 10 of the conference in points per game and rebounds per game. Tyson is third in PPG (19.6) and seventh in RPG (7.3) while Aimaq is eighth in PPG (15.3) and first in RPG (10.3).
• The Bears lead the Pac-12 in 3-point makes (9.0) and attempts (26.3) per game, shooting 34.2% from beyond the arc. They averaged just 4.9 makes and 16.4 attempts per game last season, both ranking last in the conference. Jalen Cone has fueled Cal's 3-point volley, ranking eighth nationally with 3.58 makes from deep. He's one of just three players nationally with seven or more 3-pointers made in three games.
• Jalen Celestine has made the most of his three starts so far this season. The redshirt junior is averaging 15.6 points per game when starting, versus just 3.5 PPG when he's come off the bench. He's scored in double figures in each of the past two games, both coming in starts.
• Keonte Kennedy's impact has been felt since he made his Cal debut on Dec. 2. He's played an average of 35.0 minutes while starting all five games and has averaged 11.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. He owns an 18-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Devin Askew has come off the bench in the two games since his return from injury, which forced him to miss seven straight games between Nov. 16-Dec. 16. He dished out a season-high five assists to just one turnover in Cal's loss to Arizona on Friday.

 
UP NEXT
The Bears will travel to Los Angeles to face USC on Wednesday, Jan. 3 and UCLA on Saturday, Jan. 6. Both games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
 
STAY POSTED
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