BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will go for its fourth straight win when it closes a three-game home stand against Mercyhurst on Wednesday night. Tipoff inside of Haas Pavilion is at 7 p.m. PT with a broadcast on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).
 
The first meeting between the two programs will serve as the Golden Bears' finale in the Cal Classic, a multi-team event held between Nov. 21-30. Cal (5-1) has already bested Air Force (78-69, Nov. 21) and Sacramento State (83-77, Nov. 24) in the event and is off to its best start to a season since the 2016-17 campaign.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 27 | 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. MERCYHURST

• Series record: First meeting
• Cal and Mercyhurst will play one another for the first time Wednesday.
• Mercyhurst is in its first season as an NCAA Division I program. The Lakers established themselves as a consistent and competitive program at the Division II level under head coach Gary Manchel, who has won 377 games in 22 seasons at Mercyhurst.
• Mercyhurst won its first Division I game on Nov. 6 at Morgan State.
• Wednesday's matchup is the final game the Bears will play in the Cal Classic, a round-robin multi-team event held between Nov. 21-30. Cal previously bested Air Force (Nov. 21) and Sacramento State (Nov. 24).

 
STARTING FIVE
1. Strength In Numbers
Cal has flexed its roster depth in different ways early this season on the way to a 5-1 start. After deploying a 10-man rotation through the first four games (3-1) of the year, Cal has been able to withstand injuries to starters Jovan Blacksher Jr., DJ Campbell and BJ Omot – all three of whom have not played since Nov. 17 at USC – the past two games (2-0) with different Bears stepping up to provide key minutes.
 
Ten Bears are averaging 16-plus minutes played per game and eight players have earned at least two starts. In the two games with Blacksher Jr., Campbell and Omot out, freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson has averaged 19.5 points per game on 59.1% shooting while Rytis Petraitis has posted 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game in his first two starts of the year. Redshirt freshman Spencer Mahoney also showed value in the win against Sacramento State on Nov. 24, scoring his first seven career points while grabbing five rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

2. Show 'Em What You Got
Jeremiah Wilkinson has made the most of his increased role in the rotation while Jovan Blacksher Jr., DJ Campbell and BJ Omot have missed the past two games due to injury. The freshman scored a team-high 23 points – the most by a Cal rookie in a single game since the 2018-19 season – on 8-of-12 shooting in a win over Air Force on Nov. 21 and followed it up with 16 points, two assists and a block against Sacramento State (Nov. 24). Wilkinson had scored 11 points in Cal's first four games before amassing 39 in the past two.
 
3. By Any Means
Andrej Stojakovic has found ways to put points on the board early this season while still trying to find his rhythm shooting from distance. The sophomore guard leads Cal with 18.2 PPG and has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games, including a career-high 21 vs. Air Force, while tallying at least 15 points in all six games. His increased physicality and emphasis on getting to the rim has helped him overcome shooting splits of .410/.258, as he's knocked down 37 of 45 free throws (.822), including a career best 11 makes in the win against Sacramento State. Stojakovic was 19 of 36 at the free throw line on the season as a freshman at Stanford last season.
 
4. Roadkill
The Bears rebounded from their first loss of the season at Vanderbilt by notching a 71-66 win at USC on Nov. 17 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 then-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 played. Cal has since reeled off two more wins in a row for a season-best three-game win streak heading into Wednesday's meeting with Mercyhurst.
 
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.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will face Missouri in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 3, in Columbia, Missouri.
 
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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