University of California Athletics

Sean Lampley is averaging 13.5 ppg and 11.2 rpg, with five double-doubles.

Upset of Tar Heels Could Vault Bears into Top 25.

December 23, 1998

Pete Newell Challenge
Tuesday, Dec. 29, Oakland Arena

TV: Fox Sports Net (locally on Bay TV) with Steve Physioc and Marcus Johnson California Golden Bears (8-1) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (12-2), 6:00 p.m. Stanford Cardinal (9-2) vs. Temple Owls (6-4), 8:30 p.m.

A Quick Look at the Golden Bears
After picking up the title of its own Golden Bear Classic Dec. 22, Cal plays seventh-ranked North Carolina in the second Pete Newell Challenge Dec. 29 at the Oakland Arena. In the second half of the doubleheader event, Stanford takes on Temple.

The Bears, who will be playing their final non-Pac-10 game of the year before conference action starts Jan. 2 against Oregon, are coming off their two most impressive games of the season. In wins over Eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Louisiana, Cal held EKU to just 28.1 percent field goal shooting, then tied a season-high with 94 offense points against USL.

However, the competition level goes up several notches when the Bears face North Carolina Tuesday. Cal has lost to the Tar Heels in each of the last two seasons, including a 63-57 setback in the 1997 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in Syracuse, N.Y.

The Bears enter the North Carolina game on the verge of breaking into the Associated Press Top 25. In Dec. 21 poll, Cal held down the 27th spot, up from 32nd the previous week and the team's highest rating of the year.

So far, Cal is undefeated on its home court this season, going 6-0 and winning by an average of 19.8 points. Overall, the Bears are riding a six-game win streak, their longest since also taking six in a row in 1997.

The Bears continue to be led by senior guard Geno Carlisle, who tops the team with 18.6 ppg and has scored at least 25 points four times. His highest output came at BYU Dec. 19 when he totaled 27 points, including eight in the final 3:28 of the game. Carlisle was named Pac-10 Player of the Week Dec. 7 after helping Cal to wins over Houston and Rhode Island.

Up front, the Bears boast one of the top rebounders in the nation in sophomore Sean Lampley. Now averaging 13.5 ppg and 11.2 rpg, Lampley has already posted five double-doubles, including a 21-point, 18-board performance vs. Houston. He was also voted MVP of the Golden Bear Classic.

As a unit, defense continues to be the strength of the team as the Bears are limiting opponents to 36.0 percent field goal shooting and 24.7 percent from three-point range. In addition, the Bears are forcing 21.3 turnovers per contest, while only committing 15.6 per game themselves.

Cal on the Radio
All California games will be broadcast on KABL Radio (960 AM) in San Francisco and KATD Radio (990 AM) in Concord with Roxy Bernstein calling the action. Each broadcast begins 20 minutes prior to tip-off with the Cal Basketball Pregame Show. After the game, head coach Ben Braun will recap the action on the Cal Basketball Postgame Show. In addition to the radio, broadcasts can be heard on the Internet at www.broadcast.com.

www.calbears.com
All Cal releases, results, statistics, box scores, schedules and coach and player information, as well as historical data, is available on the Internet at www.calbears.com. Game recaps and statistics are updated after each contest. The site also includes information on all 27 of Cal's teams.

Cal Radio on Telephone
All Cal basketball radio broadcasts during the 1998-99 season are available nationwide via telephone through TRZ Telephone Broadcast Services. Fans may access the Cal games from anywhere in the country by dialing 800-846-4700, extension 5918. The cost is 50 cents for the first minute, with decreasing rates for each addition minute.

Arena in Oakland
While Haas Pavilion is under construction on campus, Cal will play all of its home games at the Arena in Oakland. Recently renovated and expanded to 19,200 seats, the facility also serves as host to the NBA's Golden State Warriors. Cal played its first game in Oakland in 1974 and has an all-time mark of 32-18 there. The building, which was originally built in 1966, served as host of the men's NCAA West Regionals in 1990 and '95 and the women's regionals in 1998.

Cal Coach Ben Braun
Ben Braun (Wisconsin '75), who was named the 14th head coach in Cal history on Sept. 15, 1996, is in his third year in Berkeley and 22nd season as collegiate head coach. He agreed to a new eight-year contract with Cal in October 1997 that extends through the 2004-05 season. His record at Cal stands at 43-25, while his career mark, which includes 11 years at Eastern Michigan and eight seasons at Siena Heights College, is 376-260. The 1997 Pac-10 Coach of the Year and a finalist for '97 National Coach of the Year honors, Braun led the Bears to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1997. At EMU from 1985-96, the three-time MAC Coach of the Year guided the Eagles to three NCAA Tournaments and one NIT appearance with an overall record of 185-132. A native of Chicago, Braun played one year of basketball at Wisconsin-LaCrosse before transferring to Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a teaching degree in English with a minor in African-American studies in 1975. He received his master's degree in guidance and counseling from Siena Heights.

North Carolina Scouting Report

Cal-North Carolina Series History
North Carolina leads the series with Cal, 4-0. The Tar Heels won the first game between the schools, 64-61, on Dec. 22, 1972 in Berkeley. Cal and UNC have played each other the last two years with North Carolina winning, 63-57, in the 1997 NCAA Sweet 16 in Syracuse, N.Y., and, 71-47, last year in Chapel Hill.

UNC Head Coach Bill Guthridge
Bill Guthridge is in his second season as head coach at North Carolina. Last year, he guided the Tar Heels to a 34-4 record and a berth in the Final Four. He became just the seventh coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in his first season. Prior to replacing Dean Smith in 1997, Guthridge was a long-time assistant to Smith.

Probable Starters

Pos No  Name               Ht   Wt  Yr   Ppg  Rpg
 F  13  Ademola Okulaja   6-9  235  Sr  13.4  8.8
 F  42  Kris Lang        6-10  225  Fr  10.2  4.9
 C  00  Brendan Haywood   7-0  265  So  12.0  7.0
 G   5  Ed Cota           6-1  185  Jr  11.2  7.6 ast
 G  25  Jason Capel       6-8  218  Fr   9.8  5.0

Golden Bear Notes

Defense Key to Bears Success
Since his arrival at Cal in September 1996, head coach Ben Braun has emphasized defense to his Golden Bear teams. In his first season in Berkeley, his Bears led the Pac-10 in scoring defense - a factor that played a major role in Cal's run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Last year, with a roster that featured seven newcomers, Cal again ranked near the top of the conference, this time coming in second in scoring defense. And the 1998-99 season has started out no different. So far, the Bears are limiting opponents to just 36.0 percent from the floor, to 24.7 percent from three-point range and to 63.8 ppg overall. In addition, Cal owns a +5.8 per game turnover differential, has blocked 45 shots (5.0 per game) and picked off 91 steals (10.1 per game). No opponent has made more than 33.3 percent of its three-point attempts in any game, and the Bears have forced at least 20 turnovers seven times (all wins). Cal has also held its last four opponents to a combined 32.3 percent field goal shooting with none of the school making more than 36 percent of its shot attempts.

Golden Bear Breakdown
By Class

Senior    (4) - Geno Carlisle, Francisco Elson, Mike Gill, Thomas Kilgore
Junior    (3) - Carl Boyd, Robbie Jones, Raymond King
Sophomore (1) - Sean Lampley
Freshman  (3) - Dennis Gates, Shahar Gordon, Solomon Hughes

 7-0 - Francisco Elson
6-11 - Solomon Hughes
6-10 - Shahar Gordon
 6-7 - Sean Lampley
 6-6 - Mike Gill
 6-5 - Carl Boyd
 6-3 - Geno Carlisle, Dennis Gates, Robbie Jones
 6-2 - Thomas Kilgore
5-10 - Raymond King

Games*           Career  Starts
Francisco Elson    36      23
Raymond King       35      12
Sean Lampley       35      18
Geno Carlisle      31      28
Thomas Kilgore     28      21
Robbie Jones       28      10
Mike Gill          28      23
Carl Boyd           9       6
Dennis Gates        9       0
Shahar Gordon       9       0
Solomon Hughes      6       0

Points*          Career   Avg.
Geno Carlisle     561    18.1
Thomas Kilgore    345    12.3
Sean Lampley      334     9.5
Mike Gill         290    10.4
Francisco Elson   197     5.5
Raymond King      189     5.4
Carl Boyd          71     7.9
Robbie Jones       58     2.1
Solomon Hughes     38     6.3
Dennis Gates       38     4.2
Shahar Gordon      11     1.2

Rebounds*        Career   Avg.
Sean Lampley      231     6.6
Francisco Elson   168     4.7
Mike Gill         114     4.1
Geno Carlisle      90     2.9
Raymond King       85     2.4
Thomas Kilgore     68     2.4
Robbie Jones       46     1.6
Carl Boyd          36     4.0
Shahar Gordon      17     1.9
Solomon Hughes     16     2.7
Dennis Gates        9     1.0

Assists*         Career   Avg.
Raymond King       99     2.8
Geno Carlisle      84     2.7
Thomas Kilgore     76     2.7
Sean Lampley       64     1.8
Mike Gill          27     1.0
Francisco Elson    19     0.5
Carl Boyd          14     1.6
Robbie Jones       13     0.5
Shahar Gordon      10     1.1
Dennis Gates        8     0.9
Solomon Hughes      1     0.2

*Cal statistics only

Rematches Good for Cal So Far
Cal will play four non-conference home-and-home series in 1997-98 and '98-99, and so far the rematches have come out in the Bears favor. After losing at Houston (54-51) last year, Cal took this year's contest, 87-72. The Bears then knocked off Rhode Island, 71-64, after URI beat the Bears, 72-63, last February. This past Saturday, Cal beat BYU, 71-70, after edging the Cougars, 68-64, last December. The last remaining match-up is with North Carolina Tuesday. In last season's opener, the Tar Heels came out on top, 71-47, after leading by just one point at the half.

Carlisle Lighting Up Scoreboard for Bears
Senior guard Geno Carlisle, who has switched from shooting guard to point guard this season, has not let the move affect his scoring ability. After leading Cal with 17.9 ppg last year, Carlisle is averaging 18.6 ppg this season. He has already tallied at least 25 points four times, including all three road contests: 26 at Hawaii, 25 at DePaul and 27 at BYU. In addition, he had 26 points in Cal's win over Rhode Island. As was the case last year when he averaged 21.9 ppg on the road and 14.6 ppg at home, Carlisle's scoring output is much higher outside the Bay Area again this season. Averaging 26.0 ppg on the road, he is averaging 14.8 at the Oakland Arena. In addition to his scoring, Carlisle leads Cal in assists with 34 (3.8 per game). He dished out a career-best seven assists against Southwestern Louisiana Dec. 22. He has also had six assists in a game twice and added five assists with no turnovers vs. Eastern Kentucky Dec. 21.

Lampley Ranks 7th Nationally in Rebounds
Sophomore Sean Lampley has posted double-doubles in five of his eight games this season, and as a result, he ranks seventh in the nation in rebounding. The 6-7 forward, who missed the opener while recuperating from a hand injury, grabbed 10 boards vs. Eastern Washington, a then-career-high 14 rebounds at DePaul and a current career-best 18 boards vs. Houston. After getting a team-best seven boards in the win over Rhode Island, Lampley came back with another double-double (12-11) vs. Coppin State. He had 15 more rebounds against Eastern Kentucky Dec. 22. Lampley is trying to become the first Cal player to average at least 10 rpg for a full season since Brian Hendrick (10.7 rpg) in 1991-92.

NCAA Rebounding Leaders (through Tuesday, Dec. 22)

    Name                        G   Reb   Avg
1.  K'zell Wesson, LaSalle      8   100  12.5
2.  Darren Phillip, Fairfield   8    99  12.4
3.  Ian McGinnis, Dartmouth     9   111  12.3
4.  Jeff Foster, SW Texas St.   8    93  11.6
5.  Quentin Richardson, DePaul 10   115  11.5
5.  David Tompkins, Yale        8    92  11.5
7.  Sean Lampley, California    8    90  11.3

Cal Winning Close Games This Season
With seven newcomers on the team last year, Cal stayed in many games until the final minutes, but ended up with an 0-8 record in games decided by three-points or less. That trend continued at DePaul Nov. 28 when the Bears fell, 75-72. However, Cal has turned it around since then, winning two games by narrow margins. The Bears edged Coppin State, 58-56, at home Dec. 7, then came back from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat BYU, 71-70, in Provo Dec. 19.

Hughes Improving with Every Game
Freshman Solomon Hughes, who gained his eligibility Dec. 3 after winning an appeal from the National Letter of Intent Appeals Committee, has shown rapid improvement over his brief six-game career. Hughes saw only limited action in his first contest against Houston and did not score. Then on Dec. 5 against Rhode Island, the 6-11 center/forward had four points and a rebound. Two days later, he was a big factor in Cal's victory over Coppin State with eight points and four boards. The trend continued at BYU as Hughes came off the bench for 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes. He also had 10 points, four boards, two blocks and three steals against Eastern Kentucky. Hughes originally signed an NLI with Tulane in November 1996, but he never enrolled there, opting instead to attend a prep school in Virginia last year. Hughes signed with Cal this past spring, although he hadn't received a release from Tulane. Initially denied a chance to play this year by the NLI Steering Committee, his appeal to that ruling was approved by the NLI Appeals Committee, making him eligible immediately. In his six games, Hughes is averaging 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds as a reserve.

Pac-10 Standings

                Pac-10  Overall
Arizona           0-0     6-0
California        0-0     8-1
USC               0-0     7-1
Oregon            0-0     7-1
Stanford          0-0     9-2
UCLA              0-0     6-2
Oregon State      0-0     5-2
Washington        0-0     5-3
Arizona State     0-0     5-4
Washington State  0-0     5-4

This Week in the Pac-10
Dec. 23 - Oregon State at Pearl Harbor Classic; American at UCLA

Dec. 24 - New Mexico at Washington

Dec. 28 - Arizona vs. Holy Cross; Navy at Arizona State; St. Martin's at Oregon; Washington State at UTEP

Dec. 29 - North Carolina at California; Temple vs. Stanford; Arizona State at Sun Devil Classic; Loyola Marymount at UCLA; Arkansas State at USC; Washington State at UTEP Tournament

Dec. 30 - Arizona at Fiesta Bowl Classic; College of Notre Dame at Oregon State; Portland at Washington

Cal Proves It Can Win on Road
After going just 3-10 away from home last year, Cal is off to a 2-1 start on the road in 1998-99, winning at Hawaii (71-60) and BYU (71-70), but losing at DePaul (75-72). The Bears did not pick up their second road win of '97-98 until defeating Washington State in Pullman on Jan. 24. The Bears next two road games will be big tests for the team as they go to Top 20 schools Stanford Jan. 9 and UCLA Jan. 14.

Carlisle Coming Up Big in Clutch
Senior guard Geno Carlisle may be leading Cal with 18.6 ppg this season, but it is the manner in which he has put up those numbers that tells the whole story. Carlisle has had some of his biggest outputs in the Bears most important games, scoring many of his points in the closing minutes with the game on the line. He had six points down the stretch in a 71-60 victory at Hawaii, and although Cal eventually lost, Carlisle scored seven of his 25 points in the last five minutes at DePaul. Perhaps his biggest contribution came against Rhode Island, when he totaled nine of his 26 points in the last five minutes, including six straight to extend Cal's 54-53 lead to 60-53. Carlisle also had eight of his 27 points at BYU in the last 3:30 in Provo. Overall, Carlisle is shooting 47.1 percent from the floor (56-119) and is at 38.5 percent (15-39) from three-point range. Those numbers are much higher than last year, when he shot 43.3 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from behind the arc.

Bears Seek Longest Streak Since '94
With victories in its last six games, Cal has equaled its longest winning streak under head coach Ben Braun, matching the six in a row the Bears won in January and February 1997. If Cal can upset North Carolina Tuesday, the Bears will have their longest streak since Cal started the 1994-95 season 7-0. The Bears have had longer winning streaks only two other times in the 1990s, putting together eight consecutive wins in 1993 and 1994.

Second Half Surges the Norm for Cal
So far this season, Cal has scored at least as many points in the second half as in the first half in every game. The Bears are averaging 36.6 points over the first 20 minutes, but raise that rate to 41.3 points after intermission. Cal's highest first half outputs came against Eastern Washington and versus Southwestern Louisiana when the Bears scored 46 points. However, they topped that with a 48 points in the second half in both contests. The biggest differential came at BYU when the Bears scored 28 points in the first half and 43 in the second.

Opponent               Cal in First Half   Cal in Second Half  Difference
Hawaii                       30                   41              +11
Eastern Washington           46                   48               +2
DePaul                       35                   37               +2
Houston                      43                   44               +1
Rhode Island                 35                   36               +1
Coppin State                 25                   33               +8
BYU                          28                   43              +15
Eastern Kentucky             42                   42                =
SW Louisiana                 46                   48               +2

Bears Put Together Two High Scoring Games
With 84 points in their win over Eastern Kentucky Dec. 21 and 94 more in their victory over Southwestern Louisiana Dec. 22, the Bears put together their highest scoring back-to-back games since beating Texas Southern, 97-60, and Illinois, 89-87 in 2OT, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 3, 1996. The last time Cal scored a combined 178 points in two straight regulation games came Jan. 20 and 25, 1996 when the Bears defeated Oregon, 97-82, and Washington State, 87-79.

Shooting Percentage Takes a Big Jump Forward
By shooting 47.9 percent from the field against Eastern Kentucky Dec. 21 and 63.6 percent versus Southwestern Louisiana Dec. 22, Cal's over field goal shooting rate jumped to 44.8 percent for the year, up from 41.9 percent entering the Golden Bear Classic. Six players are now shooting 50.0 percent or better for the year, led by senior center Francisco Elson at 58.3 percent (28-48) and freshman center Solomon Hughes at 54.8 percent (17-31). By contrast, Elson made only 43.1 percent of his attempts last year.

Pete Newell at Cal
Pete Newell has long been associated with the Cal basketball program, starting in 1954 when he was named head coach. Newell led the Bears to the 1959 NCAA title and to a runner-up finish in 1960. Head coach at Cal from 1954-55 through '59-60, Newell's teams won four consecutive conference titles (1957-60), and he was voted national coach of the year in 1960. He finished his Cal career with a 119-44 record. Newell also coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Games. On Dec. 21, 1987, the playing surface at Harmon Gym on the Cal campus was renamed "Pete Newell Court" in his honor. The floor will retain that name when the new Haas Pavilion opens next season.

Newell's Record at Cal

Year     Overall  Conf.   NCAA
1954-55   9-16    1-11    --
1955-56   17-8    10-6    --
1956-57   21-5    14-2    2nd round
1957-58   19-9    12-4    1st round
1958-59   25-4    14-2    Champion
1959-60   28-2    11-1    Runner-up

Pete Newell    (1954-60)  119-44 .730
Ben Braun      (1996- )    43-25 .632
Nibs Price     (1925-54) 449-294 .604
Lou Campanelli (1986-93) 123-108 .532

Cal Off to Best Start Since 1984
With eight wins in its first nine games, Cal is off to its best start since the 1984-85 Bear squad, under head coach Dick Kuchen, also began 8-1. The last time Cal started 9-1 also occurred under Kuchen's watch during the 1980-81 season. However, neither of those seasons proved fruitful in the end as the Bears finished 13-15 in 1984-85 and 13-14 in 1980-81.

Cal-North Carolina to Meet for Third Straight Year
When Cal and North Carolina face each other at the Oakland Arena Tuesday night, it will mark the third straight year the two teams have played. The first meeting came in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 in 1997 in Syracuse. The Bears led the Tar Heels by as many as night points in the second half, before UNC roared back for a 63-57 win en route to the Final Four. Last year, Cal opened its season in Chapel Hill. With only seven scholarship players available, including no returning starters from 1997, the Bears fell, 71-47, although they trailed by just one point at the half. In that game, Cal's Mike Gill, who normally fills the small forward role in his 6-6 frame, started at point guard for the short-handed Bears.

Looking Back at the 1997 Pete Newell Challenge
Cal also played in the first Pete Newell Challenge on Dec. 22, 1997 at the Oakland Arena. With transfers Geno Carlisle and Thomas Kilgore eligible for the first time, the Bears edged BYU, 68-64. Carlisle came off the bench for a team-high 16 points, while since-graduated center Sean Marks contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds. USF beat Indiana in the first half of the doubleheader.

Haas Pavilion to Open for '98-99 Season
Cal will open the 1998-99 season in a new on-campus arena - the Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion. The facility, which is being built on the site of the former Harmon Gym, will have a capacity of 12,300 - up from 6,578 in Harmon - and is named in honor of Walter and Evelyn Haas, who donated a lead gift of $10 million. Construction on the $50 million project got underway in the summer of 1997. The Bears played in Harmon Gym for 64 seasons (1933-97) and compiled a 588-300 record there. The final game at the facility came on March 6, 1997 when Cal defeated Arizona State, 84-66.

Golden Bear Notes
Cal freshman center Shahar Gordon and UNC guard junior Ed Cota both attended St. Thomas More Academy in Connecticut ... At the Golden Bear Classic, Cal's Sean Lampley was named MVP, while Carl Boyd, Geno Carlisle and Mike Gill joined him on the all-tournament team ... Geno Carlisle, who averaged 22.0 ppg in wins over Houston and Rhode Island, was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week for Dec. 7, the first conference honor of his career ... Cal will play in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, next November; in addition to Cal and host Alaska-Fairbanks, the other teams in the tournament are Wichita State, Houston, TCU, Texas A&M, Montana State and George Washington ... 20 of Cal's 28 games will be televised this year ... senior center Francisco Elson and freshman center Shahar Gordon attended Pete Newell's Big Man Camp in Hawaii over the summer ... also during the summer, Carl Boyd was a member of the Dream Team that captured the title in the San Francisco Pro-Am League.

Updated Player Profiles

Carl Boyd
Started Cal's first three games at forward, but, after coming off the bench for three games, has started the last three contests at guard ... had a good all-around debut at Hawaii with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists ... scored 11 points (3-5 FG, 5-5 FT) in 16 minutes vs. Eastern Washington ... had a career-high 16 points and four assists vs. EKU, then came back with 13 points and a personal-best seven rebounds against SW Louisiana ... named to the all-tournament team at the Golden Bear Classic ... shooting 51.9 percent from the floor.

Geno Carlisle
Carlisle has led Cal in scoring 5 times, including a high of 27 at BYU ... averaging 18.6 ppg this year, up from 17.9 ppg last season ... also had 26 points at Hawaii and vs. Rhode Island and scored 25 points at DePaul ... starts at point guard after playing off-guard last year ... although he scored a season-low 8 points vs. SW Louisiana, he had a career-high 7 assists in the game ... paces Cal with 34 assists (3.8 per game) ... voted to the Golden Bear Classic all-tournament team ... named Pac-10 Player of the Week Dec. 7 after leading Cal to wins over Houston and Rhode Island ... shooting 47.1% from floor, up from 43.3% last year ... leads Cal with 15 three-pointers (15-39, 38.5%) ... transferred to Cal after playing two years at Northwestern.

Francisco Elson
Elson had one of the best games of his career with 10 points (all in 2nd half) and eight rebounds at Hawaii ... also tied a career high with 3 blocks in that game ... had an even better outing vs. Houston with 13 points and 9 rebounds ... matched his career high with 13 points against SW Louisiana ... has 11 blocks, including 3 vs. Houston ... shooting a team-best 58.3% from the floor, up from 43.1% last year.

Dennis Gates
Gates is a defensive specialist who is second on the team with 18 steals ... had a high of 5 steals vs. Eastern Washington ... also had 3 steals vs. Coppin State, at BYU and vs. SW Louisiana ... scored 12 points (4-6 3P) vs. Houston ... only 5 turnovers in 9 games ... had 9 points vs. SW Louisiana.

Mike Gill
Gill recorded the first double-double of his career with 14 points and a career-best 10 rebounds at Hawaii ... has scored in double figures 6 times ... third on team with 13 steals ... also second on team with 5.6 rpg ... had a team-high 9 boards at BYU ... had 10 points and 7 boards vs. Eastern Kentucky ... voted to the Golden Bear Classic all-tournament team ... named team MVP last season.

Shahar Gordon
Gordon scored 4 points against both Hawaii and Eastern Washington ... has 10 assists on the year ... 8 of 17 rebounds have been on offensive end ... has seen action in all nine games.

Solomon Hughes
Hughes received clearance from the National Letter of Intent Appeals Committee Dec. 3 (before Houston game) to be able to play during the 1998-99 season ... missed the first three games while waiting on the results of the appeal ... has improved dramatically as he gets more accustomed to his role on the team ... set career highs with 10 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes at BYU ... also had 10 points vs. Eastern Kentucky ... shooting 54.8% from the floor, but is just 4-for-21 from the free throw line (19.0%).

Thomas Kilgore
Kilgore, who ranked third in the Pac-10 with 2.14 steals per game last year, is ahead of his 1998 pace with 20 steals in eight teams this season (2.5 per game) ... has already had four steals in a game four times: vs. Hawaii, Houston, Coppin State and SW Louisiana ... also scored a season-best 16 points (5-7 FG, 1-1 3P, 5-6 FT) against USL ... sat out the BYU and Eastern Kentucky games after missing the team bus to the airport prior to BYU ... shooting 80.6% (25-31) from the free throw line ... had 14 points vs. Rhode Island.

Raymond King
After seeing limited action in the first 5 games, has played extensively in the last three, including 23 minutes at BYU when he had four points and four boards ... against Coppin State, he played 14 minutes and scored 3 points ... had 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 10 minutes against SW Louisiana ... led Cal with 89 assists last season.

Sean Lampley
Lampley missed the Hawaii opener with a partially torn ligament in his right hand ... however, has posted double-doubles 5 times since then: 16-10 vs. Eastern Washington; 20-14 at DePaul; 21-18 vs. Houston; 12-11 vs. Coppin State; 15-10 vs. Eastern Kentucky ... the 18 rebounds against Houston were a career high, while the 21 points tied a career best ... had 14 of his 16 points and 7 of his 8 rebounds in the second half at BYU ... named MVP of the Golden Bear Classic after his double-double against EKU and dishing out a career-high 8 assists vs. SW Louisiana ... as of Dec. 23, ranked seventh in the NCAA in rebounding average at 11.3 per game ... second on team with nine blocks ... made his first three-pointer of the year against USL.

Probable Starters & Key Reserves

POS  NO  NAME              HT    YR   PPG  RPG  NOTES
 F   33  Mike Gill        6-6    Sr  10.3  5.6  First career double-double at Hawaii (14-10); team MVP in '98
 F   21  Sean Lampley     6-7    So  13.5 11.2  MVP of Golden Bear Classic; 18 rebounds vs. Houston 12/3
 C   41  Francisco Elson  7-0    Sr   6.8  4.7  Career-high 13 points vs. Houston 12/3 & SW Louisiana 12/22
 G   23  Carl Boyd        6-5    Jr   7.9  4.0  16 points vs. Eastern Kentucky 12/21; 3 of 6 starts at forward
 G   25  Geno Carlisle    6-3    Sr  18.6  3.8  ast Had at least 25 points 4 times, including 27 at BYU 12/19
 G    5  Dennis Gates     6-3    Fr   4.2  1.0  Had 5 steals vs. Eastern Washington; 12 points vs. Houston (4-6 3P)
 G   15  Thomas Kilgore   6-2    Sr  10.6  3.1  ast Leads team with 20 steals; has had 4 steals 4 times
 G   10  Raymond King     5-10   Jr   1.8  1.2  Had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 23 minutes at BYU
 F/C 45  Solomon Hughes   6-11   Fr   6.3  2.7  Career-high 10 points at BYU and vs. EKU; 54.8% FG

Head Coach: Ben Braun (Wisconsin '75)
- 43-25 at Cal (3rd year) & 376-260 overall (22nd year)