BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 6 Duke in front of a sellout crowd at Haas Pavilion before the Blue Devils created space in the second half to win tonight's ACC matchup 71-56. A capacity crowd of 11,201 was on hand for the first-ever meeting between the two programs in Berkeley. With its third straight loss, Cal is now 13-5 overall and 1-4 in ACC play. No. 6 Duke improves to 15-1, 5-0.
Cal answered a 7-0 Duke rally with a 10-0 run in the first half, but the Blue Devils finished out the frame with a 13-0 surge to lead it 37-30 at the break. Duke was shooting 46.7 percent in those first 20 minutes to beat out the Bears' 40-percent effort, and the Blue Devils led the battle of the boards 20-15. The Bears forced a 41-41 snarl in the second half and was within three with 11.45 to go before a couple untimely scoreless stretches caused Cal to fall behind. Duke finished the game shooting 45.2 percent to outpace Cal's final 36.5 percent outing. The Blue Devils also outrebounded the Bears 44-30.
Lee Dort led Cal in scoring with 14 points and on the boards with nine rebounds.
John Camden added 11 points, and
Justin Pippen tallied 10. Duke received a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds from Cameron Boozer, and Isaiah Evan added 17 points.
Chris Bell opened Cal's account with a 3-pointer, and the Bears stayed a step ahead of the Blue Devils for an early 7-3 advantage four minutes into the action. DeJuan Campbell nabbed a steal and converted, then found
Lee Dort for an alley-oop that had Cal on top 13-7 with 12:00 on the clock. Duke manufactured a 7-0 surge to take its first lead of the game, getting up 19-15 at 7:40 before Cal chopped that down with a 3-pointer from
Justin Pippen and a pair of free throws from Milos Ilic to go ahead 20-19 less than a minute later. Dort dropped two more dunks around a single bucket by the Blue Devils, and the Bears went ahead 27-21 entering the final four minutes of the first half. The foul count tipped against the Bears from there, and Duke drilled some big buckets during a 13-0 rally that had the visitors on top 37-30 by the end of the half.
The Bears and Blue Devils were in stride out of the gates of the second half, and then Cal crafted a 7-0 push to snarl the score up 41-41 with 15:03 on the clock. Campbell struck in the paint for Cal at 11:45 to get the Bears within three at 48-43, but only free throws would fall for Cal in the next five minutes while Duke worked up a 62-48 lead before
John Camden hit a three to make it 62-51 at 6:35. Another cold spell hit Cal next before Ames broke through from the floor and the free-throw line to round out a final 71-56 score in favor of the No. 6 Blue Devils.
NEXT: The Bears will next face off against North Carolina at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 17) at Haas Pavilion. The Cal-UNC game will also feature a halftime recognition of the 2026 Pete Newell Career Achievement Award recipient, Solomon Hughes.
NOTABLE:
- Tonight's sellout crowd of 11,201 is the first at Haas Pavilion since Feb. 7, 2024 when Cal beat USC 83-77 in overtime with an attendance of 11,801.
 (Haas Pavilion capacity changed to 11,200 for 2024-25 season).
- With 14 points,
Lee Dort scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
-
Justin Pippen (10 points) hit double digits for the 14th time.
- Pippen tied his career high of five steals.
- With 11 points,
John Camden scored in double digits for the 13th time this season.
