BEAR BITES
• California is off on another ACC road trip, swinging through New England for the first-ever games for the Golden Bears at Syracuse and at Boston College.
• Cal (17-7, 5-6 ACC) makes its debut in Syracuse, N.Y., for a 7 p.m. ET clash against the Orange (13-11, 4-7) on Wednesday (Feb. 11) at JMA Wireless Dome.
• From there, the Bears are off to Chestnut Hill, Mass., for the first time, taking on the Eagles (9-14, 2-8) at noon ET on Saturday (Feb. 14) at Conte Forum.

FOLLOW ALONG
• Wednesday's Cal-Syracuse game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Jay Alter and Randolph Childress on the call.
• Saturday's Bears-Eagles game will air on ACC Network with Jon Meterparel and Dan Bonner 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
Cal went cold for a lengthy stretch of the first half and was unable to make up that ground, finishing with a 77-55 loss to No. 20 Clemson at Haas Pavilion.
Cal came up empty from the floor for almost 13 minutes as the Bears' early lead disappeared while Clemson climbed ahead 39-20 by halftime. Cal shot 24 percent overall in those first 20 minutes -- far behind the Tigers' 59.1 percent clip to go along with six Clemson 3-pointers drained. Cal improved in the second half, but Clemson stayed efficient and kept the Bears at bay to net the win. Cal finished the game shooting 39.6 percent overall, and Clemson wrapped a 55.1 percent with a rebounding advantage of 29-27.
The Bears were led by Justin Pippen's game-high 19 points along with 13 from Chris Bell and 12 from Dai Dai Ames. Clemson received 13 points from Ace Buckner and RJ Godfrey and 11 each from Jake Wahlin and Carter Welling.
NOTABLE:
• With 19 points, Justin Pippen scored in double figures for the 20th time this season.
• With 13 points, Chris Bell hit double digits for the 18th time this season.
• With 12 points, Dai Dai Ames scored in double figures for a team-best 21st time this season.
• With four points and four rebounds, Mantas Kocanas tied his season highs.
• Cal's 20 points in the first half was a season low.
• Cal's 55 points in the game also was a season low. Jackets.  

MAGIC IN MIAMI
Cal put in a fierce final four minutes of road work to take a late lead and then fend off host Miami for a key 86-85 Golden Bear victory over the Hurricanes in Coral Gables. John Camden finished with a season-high 26 points for Cal, and Justin Pippen dished out a career-high eight assists to help the Bears secure the road win.
The lead changed hands six times in the first 11 minutes of action, with Cal making a 10-0 run that pulled the Bears into the lead. Cal would stay a step ahead of the Hurricanes through to halftime, although it was a slim 45-44 margin at the break. Both teams were shooting well. Miami had the hotter hand in hitting at a 61-percent clip to Cal's 55 percent through the first 20 minutes, and the Hurricanes were ahead on the boards 15-12 at halftime. The wildness continued in the second half as the foul count climbed and tension mounted. Five points from Dai Dai Ames in a 20-second span gave Cal its first lead since the 18:00 mark of the second half -- up 82-81 with 3:40 to go. Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut had a late block, then the go-ahead bucket for Cal with 57 seconds left, and the Hurricanes were unable to find an answer. Cal finished the game shooting 49.1 percent overall with 10 threes made. Miami shot 56.9 percent overall with four 3-pointers. A total of 65 free throws were shot in the game, with Cal going 24-of-32 and Miami 23-of-33 while leading on the boards 32-28.
NOTABLE:
• With a season-high 26 points, John Camden recorded his seventh 20-point game as a Bear.
• He was 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
• It was Cal's first-ever game played at Miami.
• It was the first game this season Cal had won after trailing with 5 minutes to go in regulation.
• Miami's 33 free throws taken was the most by a Cal opponent this season, and Cal's 32 FT attempts was a season high.

ROAD WIN AT MAPLES
Cal tore off a 10-0 run to turn a three-point game into a Golden Bear road win over rival Stanford, with John Camden's double-double highlighting the 78-66 Cal victory at Maples Pavilion. Camden hit four of his final five 3-pointers during a powerful Cal push to wrap the first half, and the game stayed wild until the very end.
Teams traded hot streaks in the first half, as Stanford took advantage of a seven-minute Cal cold snap from the floor to get ahead 29-13. The Bears bit back and blasted into the lead as they found their scoring touch and hit five 3-pointers in the last five minutes to take a 38-34 lead at halftime. Cal was shooting 42.3 percent overall by the break, while Stanford slumped to 33.3 percent. The Cardinal had the edge on the boards 19-17 at halftime and finished up just ahead with a 43-41 rebounding advantage. Cal would finish with 10 threes made and an overall shooting outing of 41.4 percent, well ahead of Stanford's final 27.3 percent.
NOTABLE:
• Cal was shooting 16.7 percent from the floor with 6:13 to go in the half, and then went 8-for-8 the remainder of the half, including five 3-pointers made.
• John Camden scored a season-high 25 points with a season-high 10 rebounds to become the first Bear to record a double-double this season.
• Dai Dai Ames had a career-high six rebounds.
• Chris Bell had a career-high three blocks.
• DeJuan Campbell had a season-high seven points and four rebounds.
• It was Cal's first win at Maples Pavilion since a 64-59 victory at Stanford on March 7, 2019.
• The win also snapped a five-game losing skid to the Cardinal.
• It was Cal's first true road win of the season.

RANKED WINS
Cal has beaten two ranked opponents this season — then-No. 18 UCLA (Nov. 24 in San Francisco) and then-No. 14 North Carolina (Jan. 17 in Berkeley) — to mark the first time since 2016 that the Bears have beaten two ranked teams.
• The win over the Bruins 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.
• In a 22-point performance vs. UCLA, Chris Bell crossed the 1,000-point margin in his collegiate career.
• With four rebounds vs. UCLA, Milos Ilic recorded his 500th career rebound.
• The win over North Carolina was Cal's first win over a top-15 AP opponent since 2016, when the Bears beat No. 11 Oregon at Haas Pavilion.
• Milos Ilic and Mantas Kocanas both hit their first 3-pointers as Bears vs. UNC.
• Cal's 54 points at halftime vs. UNC was the most scored in the first half by the Bears this season.

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 50 percent or better in six games this season, going 5-1 in those games.
• After its 90-point effort vs. Georgia Tech, Cal has six 90+ games this season — tying for the most in a season since six were recorded in 2009-10.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Cal is 14-2 when holding opponents to 72 points or less
• Cal is 8-1 when holding teams to under 40 percent shooting.
• As of Feb. 9, Cal ranks No. 91 in the nation with its 42.5 field goal percentage defense.
• The Bears are also holding opponents to just 30.6 percent from 3-point range, ranking No. 43 in the nation in 3-point percentage defense.
• As of Feb. 9, Justin Pippen is averaging 1.82 steals per game, ranking him No. 89 in the nation.

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 (17.0 ppg) has scored in double digits in a team-best 21 games this season, including nine 20-point outings.
• Justin Pippen (15.2) has hit double figures 20 times in his 22 appearances this season.
• John Camden (13.9 ppg) has scored in double figures 17 times.
• Chris Bell (13.0) also has done so in 18 games.

ALL DAY DAI DAI
• Dai Dai Ames leads Cal in scoring with 17.0 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.
• 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 20 points scored vs. Louisville, Bell has now turned out five 20-point outings as a Bear.
• Bell drained five 3-pointers in Cal's upset of No. 18 UCLA.
• He's shooting 44.0 percent from the floor and is a steamy 87.5 percent from the free-throw line (No. 58 in the nation).

CAMDEN CASHES IN
• John Camden leads the team with his 63 total threes made (No. 87 in the nation), and he's shooting a team-best 42.0 percent from beyond the arc, ranking him 29th in the nation.
• In Cal's first road win of the season, he hit five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points at Stanford.
• In a road win at Miami, Camden upped his season high to 26 points.
• Camden made a run of 16 straight games with at least one 3-pointer made until Cal's Jan. 10 loss at Virginia Tech.
• Camden has made 21 threes in Cal's last seven games.

MOVING THE BALL
• Cal has dished out 20+ assists in three games this season.
• Justin Pippen is the Bears' top distributor with his 4.3 assists per game, including a career-high eight served up in Cal's recent win at Miami.
• 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.
• In all, seven different Bears average at least one assist per game.
• Cal is also taking care of the ball nicely, averaging just 10.2 turnovers per game to rank No. 46 in the nation as of Feb. 9.

DORT ON DUTY
• Until being sidelined by injury recently, Lee Dort proved himself as a force on the boards, with four double-digit rebounding games this season. He ranks No. 64 in the nation in defensive rebounds per game as of Feb. 9 (5.7 drpg).
• Dort also has almost doubled his offensive output from last season at Cal, averaging 8.3 ppg after 4.6 ppg as a junior.
• His rebounding marks are also improved significantly from last season, up to 7.7 rpg (No. 91 in the nation) 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 three players who have already logged hours as ACC members prior to arriving in Berkeley. Dai Dai Ames came to Cal after one season at Virginia, Chris Bell joined the Bears after three seasons at Syracuse, and John Camden played his sophomore and junior seasons at Virginia Tech.

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 on Nov. 25 vs. UCLA|886 career points (as of Feb. 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 Cal home games can be purchased by visiting CalBears.com/Tickets or calling 800-GO-BEARS (462-3277). 

SUPPORT THE BEARS 
Fans can support the Golden Bears through the Cal Men's Basketball Excellence Initiative.  

STAY POSTED 
For further coverage of Cal men's basketball, follow the Bears on X (@CalMBBall), Instagram (@CalMBBball) and Facebook (/CalMBBall/).