BEAR BITES
- California takes off on its first Atlantic Coast Conference road trip of the season this week.
- The Golden Bears (13-2, 1-1 ACC) will visit No. 21 Virginia (12-2, 1-1) for a 9 p.m. ET meeting on Wednesday (Jan. 7) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
- After that test, Cal will make its first-ever trip to Blacksburg, Va., taking on Virginia Tech (12-3, 1-1) in a 4 p.m. ET clash on Saturday (Jan. 10) at Cassell Coliseum.

FOLLOW ALONG
- Both games this week will be broadcast on ACC Network.
- The Cal-UVA game will have Mike Corey and Corey Alexander on the call.
- Saturday's Bears-Hokies game will have Patrick O'Keefe and Eric Devendorf calling that action.
- Fans can also catch Justin Allegri on the Cal Bears Sports Network radio broadcast on 810 AM and The Varsity App for all Cal men's basketball games.

LAST ACTION
Dai Dai Ames hit two 3-pointers in the last 11 seconds and drained the game-winning free throw for California men's basketball in a heart-stopping 72-71 Golden Bear victory tonight at Haas Pavilion. The Bears had trailed by as much as 12 points in the first half but didn't quit en route to a dramatic ACC win.
    Cal took a 12-point deficit down to four by halftime as the Bears fought through a sluggish shooting start. Notre Dame was hitting at a 40-percent clip in the first half to overpower Cal's 32.1 percent effort, hitting five 3-pointers in those first 20 minutes to beat out Cal's three makes as the Fighting Irish led it 31-27 at the half.
    Cal was undeterred, pulling even twice and getting ahead by seven with 7:19 to go. The wild final stretch was capped by Ames' heroic four-point play with five seconds left, giving the junior a game-high 23 points and the Bears a hard-fought win. Cal finished out the game shooting 40.6 percent overall, just ahead of Notre Dame's 40 percent outing. Both teams landed 11 threes, and the Fighting Irish won the battle of the boards 44-34.
     Ames' game-high 23 points went along with 15 points from Chris Bell and 14 from Justin Pippen for the Bears. Lee Dort also hauled in 11 rebounds for Cal. Notre Dame was led by Braeden Shrewsberry's 21 points, with Jalen Haralson adding 17 and Cole Certa with 16, while Carson Towt had 15 rebounds.
NOTABLE:
- Dai Dai Ames (23 points) scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and notched his seventh 20-point game of the season.
- With 15 points, Chris Bell scored in double digits for the 12th time this season
- Justin Pippen (14 points) hit double digits for the 11th time and recorded his third game with no turnovers committed.
- John Camden has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season.
With 10 rebounds, Lee Dort recorded his fourth game with double-digit boards this season.
- Milos Ilic scored a season-high seven points.
- Cal is now 13-0 this season when holding opponents to 72 points or fewer.
- Cal committed a season-low three turnovers.

BEATING THE BRUINS
Cal stepped onto a big stage and scored a big win, beating No. 18 UCLA 80-72 at Chase Center in the finale of the Empire Classic on November 25. It was the Bears' first win over a ranked opponent since 2020.
    The lead changed hands six times in the first half as the teams were largely in stride on the scoring front, with Cal shooting 41.9 percent overall to UCLA's 41.2 percent. Thanks to a 25-15 rebounding advantage, the Bruins had punched up nine second-chance points while also going 9-of-13 from the free-throw line to help lead things 41-36 at halftime.
    UCLA took a six-point lead early in the second half before the Bears unleashed a 13-2 rally that took them into the lead to stay. The Bruins got within four in the final five minutes, only to see Cal's Dai Dai Ames tally nine clutch points in that last stretch to help anchor the Bears' win. Cal finished out the game shooting 44.8 percent, thanks in part to a 6-of-11 effort from 3-point range in the second half. UCLA finished at 40.6 percent overall and was ahead on the boards 41-35, although Cal outrebounded the Bruins 20-16 in those final 20 minutes.
    The Bears were led in scoring by Chris Bell's 22 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Ames added 14 points -- all in the second half -- while Justin Pippen scored 13 and Rytis Petraitis tallied 12 along with a team-high seven rebounds. UCLA received 19 points from Trent Perry and 17 from Eric Dailey Jr.
- With a game-high 22 points, Chris Bell scored in double digits for the sixth straight game and registered his third 20-point game as a Bear.
- Bell also crossed the 1,000-point margin in his collegiate career with his effort, now with 1,007 career points.
- DeJuan Campbell returned from injury for his first appearance of the season and scored four points.
- With four rebounds, Milos Ilic recorded his 500th career rebound.
- With 12 points, Rytis Petraitis tallied his first double-digit game of the season.
- All nine Bears who played in the game scored.
- This was Cal's first win over an AP ranked opponent since a 76-62 victory over No. 21 Colorado on Feb. 27, 2020 at Haas Pavilion.

HOT START
- Cal's 12-1 start to this season marked its best since the 1959-60 season, when the Bears went 28-1 before falling in the 1960 national championship game.
- Cal's nine-game win streak from Nov. 18-Dec. 21 matched its longest win streak since recording nine consecutive in 2008-09
- The Bears recorded 90+ points in back-to-back games —­ the first time Cal has done so since 2014 — vs. Cal State Fullerton and Kansas State.
- Cal scored a season-high 97 points vs. Morgan State on a season-best 59.3% shooting along with 55.0% from 3-point range and a 95.7% effort from the free-throw line.
- Cal has shot over 50 percent in five games this season, going 4-1 in those games.
- After its 97-point effort vs. Morgan State, Cal has five 90+ games this season — the most since six were recorded in 2009-10.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Cal is 13-0 when holding opponents to 72 points or less and 7-0 when holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting.

TOP-40 HITS
In the Dec. 30 national rankings, Cal was the only team in the nation with three different players ranked in the nation's top-40 in these three different statistical categories:
Field Goals Made — No. 40: Dai Dai Ames (88)
Free-throw Percentage ­— No. 39: Chris Bell (90.3)
3-Pointers Made — No. 40 John Camden (40)

BALANCED BEARS
Four Cal starters are averaging in double figures.
- Dai Dai Ames (17.6 ppg) has scored in double digits in a team-best 13 games this season.
- Chris Bell (14.8 ppg) has hit double digits in 12 of Cal's first 15 games this season.
- Justin Pippen (14.8) and John Camden (13.8) have each done it 11 times to date.

ALL DAY DAI DAI
- Dai Dai Ames leads Cal in scoring with 17.8 points per game thanks in part to an 11-of-13 effort from 3-point range in a two-game span vs. Cal State Fullerton and Kansas State. He leads the team with a 44.9 percent effort from beyond the arc so far and has recorded a team-best seven 20-point games this season.
- Ames scored seven points in under seven seconds to win the game for Cal in a heated clash with Notre Dame on Jan. 2.  After hitting a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to make it a one-point game, he followed two Fighting Irish free throws with a game-winning four-point play converted with 5.5 seconds to go for a 72-71 Cal win.

BELL RINGER
Chris Bell hit five 3-pointers in four minutes of play at Kansas State to help turn a 17-point deficit into a six-point margin with 37 seconds left. The Bears came up short in a 99-96 loss, although Bell finished with 27 points on 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.
- After a season-high 28 vs. Morgan State, Bell has now turned out four 20-point outings as a Bear.
- Bell drained five 3-pointers in Cal's upset of No. 18 UCLA.
- He's shooting 47.2 percent from the floor and is a steamy 89.6 percent from the free-throw line (No. 44 in the nation).

CAMDEN CASHES IN
- John Camden has made  at least one 3-pointer in every game this season, with 20 3-pointers in the last six games.
- He ranks No. 65 in the nation with his 41 total threes made, and he's shooting 39.4 percent from beyond the arc.
- Camden scored season-high 25 points vs. Northwestern State on Dec. 13 with a season-high six 3-pointers made.
 
MOVING THE BALL
- Cal has dished out 20+ assists in three games this season.
- Justin Pippen is the Bears' top distributor with his 4.2 assists per game, including a career-high seven served up vs. CSUB in Cal's season opener.
- After serving up nine assists with just one turnover vs. Morgan State, TT Carr ranked No. 1 in the nation with his assist/turnover ratio of 6.20 in the Dec. 20 national rankings.

DORT ON DUTY
- SR Lee Dort has been a force on the boards, with five double-digit rebounding games this season. He ranks No. 59 in the nation in defensive rebounds per game as of Jan. 2 (5.73 drpg).
- He's also more than doubled his offensive output from last season at Cal, now averaging 8.8 ppg after 4.6 ppg as a junior.
- His rebounding marks are also improved significantly from last season, up to 7.9 rpg from 4.6.

FIRST TIME OUT
- In Cal's season opener, seven newcomers scored their first points as Bears: Dai Dai Ames (18 points), Chris Bell (5), John Camden (22), Nolan Dorsey (2), Milos Ilic (4), Mantas Kocanas (2) and Justin Pippen (15).
- In their second season at Cal, sophomores BJ Fisher and Stephon Marbury II both checked in for their first official court time as Bears vs. CSUB.
- Also making their Cal debuts on Nov. 3 were transfer Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut and true freshmen Luke Butler and TT Carr.
Cal's season-opening win marked the 300th victory recorded by the Bears at Haas Pavilion.

CENTURY CLUB
Cal's 93-65 win over Cal State Fullerton on November 10 marked Mark Madsen's 100th career victory as a head coach.
 
ACC EXPERIENCE
Now in its second season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Cal boasts a couple players who have already logged hours as ACC members prior to arriving in Berkeley. Dai Dai Ames comes to Cal after one season at Virginia, and Chris Bell joins the Bears after three seasons at Syracuse.

CAREER CLIMBERS
In addition to Mark Madsen's 100th career head-coaching win, several other Bears have hit career milestones this season and are looking for more.
SR F Rytis Petraitis — 1,000th point scored Nov. 21 vs. Sacramento State
SR F Chris Bell — 1,000th point scored Nov. 25 vs. UCLA
GS C Milos Ilic — 500th rebound recorded Nov. 25 vs. UCLA|858 career points (as of Jan. 2)

NEW CREW
Of the 13 newcomers to the roster, nine are transfers and four are true freshmen.

LONG GAME
Of Cal's nine transfer additions, six are post players who stretch the Bears' size in the front court. Spanning from 6-foot-7 Chris Bell to 7-footer Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut, the group checks in at an average of 6-foot-9.

BACK FOR MORE
Cal returns three Bears who saw time in the starting lineup last season — F Rytis Petraitis (29 starts), G DeJuan Campbell (16) and F Lee Dort (1).

CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS
Mark Madsen is one of four NCAA Division I head coaches that won an NBA title during their playing careers. Madsen is the only one of those four coaches to have won two NBA titles, both coming with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 and 2002.
Name (School) — NBA Title(s)
Speedy Claxton (Hofstra) — 2003, San Antonio
Mark Madsen (Cal) — 2001 & 2002, Los Angeles
Darrell Walker (Little Rock) — 1993, Chicago
Mo Williams (Jackson State) — 2016, Cleveland

TV TIME
Cal is locked in with 19 televised tests in its second season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. All 18 of the Golden Bears' ACC regular-season games will be televised, along with a nonconference clash against UCLA at Chase Center as part of the Empire Classic.
In all, Cal plays four times on ESPN's family of networks – ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU – along with 15 games on the ACC Network.

CALIFORNIA THROUGH AND THROUGH
"California Through and Through" is more than a slogan – it's a statement of identity, pride and our trajectory as Cal Men's Basketball. Just like our state, our program is engaging, diverse and inspiring. We have a rich history and legacy, and we have a bright future. Being California Through and Through means we celebrate our community and our place within it.

GET TICKETS
Tickets for 2025-26 can be purchased by visiting CalBears.com/Tickets or by calling 800-GO-BEARS (462-3277).

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