BERKELEY -- Led by
John Camden's 22-point night, California men's basketball team churned out its 300th win at Haas Pavilion with a well-balanced 87-60 victory over visiting CSU Bakersfield tonight (Nov. 3). The Golden Bears' 87 points were the most in a season opener since 2015 and featured four players in double figures on the night. Cal opens the 2025-26 season with a 1-0 mark.
The Bears shot a steamy 54.2 percent from the floor and served up 20 assists while holding CSUB to 35.8 percent from the floor and forcing 17 turnovers out of the Roadrunners. Cal also outrebounded the visitors 37-29, thanks in part to a nine-rebound night from
Lee Dort, who also added a career-high 15 points along with four assists. After Camden's game-high 22 points, which included a trio of 3-pointers,
Dai Dai Ames served up 18 points.
Justin Pippen, meanwhile, had a career night with 15 points and seven assists. The Roadrunners had two players finish in double figures -- Ronald Jessamy and Dailin Smith with 16 points apiece.
The Bears opened up a 10-0 run sparked by graduate transfer
John Camden's first points at Cal on a 3-pointer.
Justin Pippen and
Dai Dai Ames also buried their first buckets as Bears along the way, while
Lee Dort added three points in that early Cal surge. The Roadrunners broke through with a toss from the stripe but wouldn't score from the floor until the 14:45 mark to make it 12-4. Pippen would find newcomer
Milos Ilic down low for his first score with Cal to get the Bears up 18-6 at 12:55. CSUB kicked into gear next, however, mounting a 10-0 run of its own to make it a two-point game with 9:25 on the clock. Camden responded with another three and drained the and-one to get the Bears back in an offensive groove. An 8-0 Cal rally would come soon after, capped by a steal and finish from Pippen to get the Bears out ahead 30-18 with 5:21 left in the first half. Joining the scoresheet for the Bears in the next stretch were newcomer
Nolan Dorsey and senior
Rytis Petraitis, with Ilic getting the last word of the half with a score down low to make it a 37-26 Cal lead at the break.
The first Bears to get to double digits on the night were Camden and Dort, who both featured prominently in Cal's opening three minutes of the second half. Camden crossed the line with a 3-pointer while Dort followed up a booming dunk with a successful trip to the stripe to net a 48-28 Cal advantage. CSUB saw only free throws fall until getting a bucket to go at 14:40. That got the Runners going as the visitors carved down the deficit to 54-41 at 12:51. Pippen and
Dai Dai Ames stole the show soon after, however, combining forces for an 11-0 Cal surge that ballooned the Bear advantage to 70-46 with 8:20 to play. Bell struck from beyond the arc for his first Bear 3-pointer during the final three minutes of play, and
Mantas Kocanas became the seventh Cal newcomer to score on the night with his bucket with 1:05 to go, helping to top off the powerful 87-60 final victory for the Bears.
NEXT: Cal stays home for another nonconference bout this week, hosting Wright State in a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday (Nov. 6) at Haas Pavilion.
NOTABLE:
- Tonight's win marked the 300th recorded by the Bears in Haas Pavilion.
- Seven Cal newcomers scored their first points as Bears tonight:
Dai Dai Ames (18 points),
Chris Bell (5),
John Camden (22),
Nolan Dorsey (2),
Milos Ilic (4),
Mantas Kocanas (2) and
Justin Pippen (15).
- With 15 points tonight, SO
Justin Pippen set his new career high.
- With 15 points tonight, SR
Lee Dort set his new career high.
- Cal's 27-point margin of victory was its largest since an 87-56 win over Cal State Northridge on Dec. 19, 2020 at Haas Pavilion.
- Cal's 87 points scored was the most in a season opener since a 97-67 win over Rice on Nov. 13, 2015.
- Cal HC
Mark Madsen now has 98 career wins -- two away from his 100th as a head coach.
