BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Haas Pavilion to host Air Force on Thursday night in the first game of the Cal Classic, a multi-team event spanning Nov. 21-27. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. PT on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).
 
The Golden Bears (3-1) will also host Sacramento State and Mercyhurst on Nov. 24 and Nov. 27, respectively, in the Cal Classic. All three of Cal's games will be played in Berkeley, while the opposing schools will also face one another at respective home sites over the same span.
 
Cal is coming off a 1-1 week on the road against power-conference competition, including an 85-69 loss at Vanderbilt (Nov. 13) and a 71-66 win at USC (Nov. 17), the latter being its first road win against the Trojans since 2017 and the two former Pac-12 foes' first nonconference matchup since 1921. Air Force (1-3) has lost two in a row by single digits against LIU (63-54) and Belmont (79-71).

The first 500 students attending Thursday's Cal-Air Force game will receive free food vouchers.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Thursday, Nov. 21 | 7 p.m. PT
• Location: Berkeley, California | Haas Pavilion
• Watch: ACC Network Extra | Roxy Bernstein (PxP) & Ben Braun (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP)
• Live Stats: Statbroadcast

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP – CAL vs. AIR FORCE

• Series record: Cal leads, 4-3
• The Bears and Falcons will meet for the first time since Dec. 28, 2003, when Air Force won 49-44 in Berkeley.
• Cal junior forward Rytis Petraitis played two standout seasons at Air Force from 2022-24, averaging 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in 56 career contests for the Falcons.
• Air Force's Joe Scott has faced Cal four times as a head coach, going 1-3. He bested Cal in 2003 during a previous stint as Air Force's head coach and later lost three times in as many seasons between 2011-13 as the head coach at Denver.

 
STARTING FIVE
1. Roadkill
The Bears rebounded from a disappointing first loss of the season at Vanderbilt by notching a 71-66 win at USC on Sunday night in Los Angeles. It was Cal's first road win at USC since Jan. 8, 2017, and its first nonconference road win against any foe since Dec. 19, 2017, at Seattle U. Andrej Stojakovic tied a career high with 20 points while Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 18 of his season-high 19 in the first half as the duo shot a combined 14 of 22 from the field. Joshua Ola-Joseph made several key plays down the stretch, logging six points seven rebounds and a steal in 10 second-half minutes.
 
2. It Takes Everyone
Cal has flexed its new-look depth early this season, deploying a 10-man rotation throughout its first four games. Eight of the 10 rotational players – all of which are first-year Golden Bears – are averaging at least 14.0 minutes per game and six Bears already have at least one double-figure scoring effort, highlighted by four apiece from Andrej Stojakovic (17.0 PPG) and Jovan Blacksher Jr. (16.3 PPG), as well as three from BJ Omot (10.8). The Bears' bench is averaging 25.75 PPG, led by Omot, who is averaging 14.0 PPG in two games coming off the bench.
 
3. The Big Fellas
Cal has found success defending the rim and cleaning up on the glass with its big-man duo of Mady Sissoko and Lee Dort. Sissoko, a graduate transfer from Michigan State with 128 career games under his belt, has started all four games and has averaged 6.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, along with a team-best 1.5 blocks per game. Dort is ninth among ACC players with 8.5 rebounds per game to go along with 4.5 PPG on an 80% clip (8 of 10) in just 17 minutes per game off the bench.
 
4. Nonconference Outlook
Cal is 2-0 at Haas Pavilion so far this season, defeating CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly by a combined 31 points during the opening week. It'll look to add onto that streak with three straight home games against Air Force, Sacramento State and Mercyhurst in the Cal Classic, followed by the Bears' inaugural ACC contest vs. Stanford (Dec. 7) and remaining nonconference home matchups against Cornell (Dec. 10) and Northwestern State (Dec. 14). Bookending the three-game home stand in December are an SEC/ACC Challenge matchup at Missouri on Dec. 3 and a neutral-site contest against San Diego State in the San Jose Tip-Off on Dec. 21.
 
5. Madsen Era, Year 2
It's year two in Berkeley for head coach Mark Madsen, who reinvigorated the Cal program and its fan base with a 10-win improvement in 2023-24. The Bears placed sixth in the Pac-12 last season, marking their best conference finish since 2016-17, and earned marquee wins at UCLA and against NCAA Tournament squads Washington State, Oregon and Colorado. Mad Dog – who was awarded a two-year contract extension in March 2024 that'll keep him at Cal until 2030 – now leads the Bears into a new era in the ACC.
 
HOW TO WATCH
Access to ACC Network and ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) is determined by your pay TV provider (cable, satellite, telco or streaming service). Viewers can still access games via a subscription to ESPN+, even without access to ACC Network. Viewers with access to ACCNX can view the streaming channel on the same device (smart TV's, smartphones, tablets, connected streaming devices or espn.com/watch) where they view ACC Network. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming channel that can also be viewed on any streaming device.
 
SUPPORT THE BEARS
Tickets for the 2024-25 campaign can be purchased by visiting CalBears.com/Tickets, calling 800-GO-BEARS (462-3277) or emailing goldstandard@berkeley.edu. Fans can support the Golden Bears through the Cal Men's Basketball Excellence Initiative or the California Legends Collective.
 
STAY POSTED
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