BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will go on the road to face Missouri in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. PT/6 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri, and the contest will be televised on SEC Network.
 
The Golden Bears (6-1) – winners of their past four games and off to their best start since the 2016-17 season – will clash with a Missouri (6-1) squad that is an undefeated 6-0 at home and is led by former Cal standout guard Dennis Gates (1998-2002), now in his third season as the Tigers' head coach.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Tuesday, Dec. 3 | 4 p.m. PT/6 p.m. CT
• Location: Columbia, Missouri | Mizzou Arena
• Watch: SEC Network | Roxy Bernstein (PxP) & Jon Sundvold (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP)
• Live Stats: Statbroadcast

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP – CAL vs. MISSOURI

• Series record: Missouri leads, 5-2
• Missouri won the last two meetings between the two programs, most recently at the 2011 Progressive College Basketball Experience Classic in Kansas City, Missouri.
• The Bears and Tigers also previously played one another in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series in 2007 and 2008; both teams won on their home courts.
• Cal has faced Missouri the most of any current SEC team (seven games) with the all-time series dating back to Dec. 22, 1941. The Bears' two wins against Missouri – 64-63 on Dec. 2, 1986, and 86-72 on Dec. 1, 2007 – came in Berkeley.

 
STARTING FIVE
1. Strength In Numbers
Cal has flexed its roster depth in different ways early this season on the way to a 6-1 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 after averaging a combined 35.8 points per game – the past three games, with different Bears stepping up to provide key minutes. Ten Bears average 15-plus minutes per game this season and seven players have earned at least three starts.
 
In the three games without Blacksher Jr., Campbell and Omot, freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson has flourished with 21.3 points per game off the bench while Rytis Petraitis (9.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.6 SPG) and Joshua Ola-Joseph (10.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG) have stepped up as parts of the starting rotation. Redshirt freshman Spencer Mahoney has showed value as well, scoring 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting across the past two games against Sacramento State and Mercyhurst.
 
2. A Familiar Face
Third-year Missouri head coach Dennis Gates was a three-year captain at Cal, playing 114 career games for the Golden Bears from 1998-2002. Gates – who graduated from Cal in just three years (2001) and was the recipient of the 2002 Pac-10 Medal of Honor, awarded to the Pac-10 universities' top graduating scholar-athlete – was a member of Cal's 1999 NIT championship squad and played key roles on the Bears' 2001 and 2002 NCAA Tournament teams. Gates, now in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, has won 89 total games at Cleveland State and Missouri. Cal head coach Mark Madsen, then a member of the Stanford men's basketball program, played against Gates as a junior and senior in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.
 
3. Golden Bears vs. the SEC
Cal seeks its first road win against an SEC team when it takes on Missouri. The Bears are 0-8 on the road and 16-24 overall all-time against the current members of the SEC, including a loss at Vanderbilt in Nashville earlier this season on Nov. 13. Cal's last win over an SEC team was on March 24, 2014, vs. Arkansas (75-64) in the second round of the NIT. The Cal-Missouri matchup is one of 16 games to be played in the 2024 SEC/ACC Challenge between Tuesday and Wednesday. Last year's inaugural event, featuring 14 games, ended in a 7-7 tie.
 
4. Show 'Em What You Got
Freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson has made the most of playing an increased role in Cal's rotation with Jovan Blacksher Jr., DJ Campbell and BJ Omot all missing the past three games due to injury. The rookie averaged 21.3 points per game on 22-of-34 shooting (64.7%) from the floor in Cal's 3-0 home stand between Nov. 21-27 and twice led the Bears in scoring in that span. Wilkinson poured in a season-high 25 points against Mercyhurst on 9-of-12 shooting – and 6 of 8 from 3-point range – to become the first Cal freshman with 25 points or more in a game since Justice Sueing scored 25 against Washington State on Feb. 22, 2018.
 
5. 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 17.7 PPG and has scored 15-plus points in all seven games, including 20-plus in three straight contests against USC, Air Force and Sacramento State. His increased emphasis on getting to the rim has helped him overcome shooting splits of .411/.270, as he's knocked down 40 of 50 free throws (.800), including a career best 11 makes in the win over Sacramento State. Stojakovic was just 19 of 36 at the free throw line on the season as a freshman at Stanford last year.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears host Stanford on Saturday in the two rival programs' inaugural ACC game. The contest starts at 1 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion.
 
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.
 
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