BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will play its first contest of the 2024 calendar year Wednesday night when it clashes with USC at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The Pac-12 Network will televise the contest, which is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. PST.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Wednesday, Jan. 3 | 7 p.m. PST
• Location: Los Angeles, California | Galen Center
• Watch: Pac-12 Network | J.B. Long (PxP) & Don MacLean (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP)
• Live Stats: USCTrojans.com

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Cal (4-9, 0-2 Pac-12) and USC (6-7, 0-2) both suffered sweeps on the opening week of Pac-12 play; the Golden Bears were dealt home losses from No. 4 Arizona (100-81) and Arizona State (71-69), while the Trojans fell short on the road at Oregon (82-74) and Oregon State (86-70). USC has won 10 consecutive games in the head-to-head series with Cal since Jan. 4, 2018. The Bears most recently defeated USC on Jan. 8, 2017 in a 74-73 road win when the Trojans were ranked 25th nationally. The Cal-USC series has been played 268 times dating back to 1917.
 
LAST TIME
Frankie Collins scored 17 of his career-high 25 points in the second half to help Arizona State rally from a 16-point second-half deficit and beat Cal 71-69 Sunday night at Haas Pavilion. Collins made 10 of 17 from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with six steals for Arizona State.

Grant Newell hit a jumper that gave the Bears a 14-point lead with 8:59 left in the game but they made just 1 of 5 from the field and committed five turnovers over the next five-plus minutes. Kamari Lands scored all his 11 points in a 22-6 spurt that gave the Sun Devils a 64-62 lead with – their first since 2-0 – with 3:12 to go. Fardaws Aimaq answered with a three-point play before Collins hit a jumper and Jaylon Tyson made two free throws to put Cal in front 67-66 with 1:25 remaining. Jose Perez had a jumper in the lane blocked by Jalen Celestine but Alonzo Gaffney's put-back dunk with 43 seconds left gave Arizona State the lead for good. Tyson, who missed a contested and potential game-winning 35-footer at the buzzer, had 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and six steals.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• Fardaws Aimaq recorded his ninth double-double of the season and 53rd of his career with 17 points and 14 rebounds against Arizona State on Sunday. He's tied for third nationally and leads the Pac-12 in the category, while also leading the conference in all but one rebounding category, including rebounds per game (10.6).
• Jaylon Tyson stuffed the box score twice last week, going for 22 points and 10 rebounds against No. 4 Arizona along with 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and a career-high six steals against Arizona State. He's the first Golden Bear with three games of 20 points and 10 boards in the same season since Andre Kelly in 2021-22, and has scored 20-plus points in eight of 12 games this season.
• 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 (19.7) and seventh in RPG (7.4) while Aimaq is eighth in PPG (16.4) and first in RPG (10.6).
• Jalen Celestine is averaging 11.8 PPG in four starts compared to just 3.5 PPG in four games off the bench this season.
• Cal is averaging 75.8 points per game this season, an 11.5-point increase from its 64.3 PPG average over the previous six seasons (2017-23). It's a 17.5-point jump from last season's average of 58.3 PPG.
• The Bears are second among Pac-12 teams in 3-pointers made (8.7) and first in attempts (26.4) per game, shooting 32.9% 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 11th nationally with 3.46 makes from deep per game.
• Six of Cal's nine losses have been by three points or fewer or went to overtime.
• The Bears are seeking to snap a pair of lengthy skids; they've lost 18 straight Pac-12 contests since beating Stanford 92-70 on Jan. 6, 2023 and 23 consecutive games away from home since a 78-64 win against Oregon in Eugene on Feb. 12, 2022.

 
UP NEXT
Cal's trip to Los Angeles concludes at UCLA on Saturday. Tipoff inside Pauley Pavilion is at 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
 
STAY POSTED
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