No. 25/RV Cal vs. RV San Diego State
BERKELEY --Â After grinding out a tough overtime win sans three starters Wednesday night, California men's basketball hits the road for its first neutral-site contest of the season, a Monday night matchup with San Diego State. The Golden Bears and Aztecs meet at the brand new Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings, in a doubleheader day of college hoops that features the first four NCAA teams to christen the new arena. The action tips off at 8 p.m. following the UC Davis-Sacramento State game, which starts at 5:35 p.m.
The Bears are coming off a 76-65 overtime victory against UC Irvine in which they battled back from a 13-point deficit without key players
Ivan Rabb,
Jabari Bird and
Grant Mullins in the lineup. The triumph extended Cal's home winning streak to 21 games, tied for the sixth-longest active streak in the country. The Bears are 3-6 in neutral-site contests in the
Cuonzo Martin era.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION: Tickets for the game can be purchased at Golden1Center.com. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Network and online via Pac-12.com/live and the Pac-12 Now app, with Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and
Mike Montgomery (analyst) on the call. The California Golden Bears Sports Network (KGO 810 AM) has the radio call from Todd McKim and
Jay John. Follow the Bears on social media for a behind-the-scenes look at all the action at Facebook.com/CalMensBball and on Twitter and Instagram @CalMensBball.
SCOUTING THE AZTECS
Last Meeting: Cal lost, 72-58, on Nov. 26, 2015 in a neutral-site game in Las Vegas, Nev.
Series Record: San Diego State leads, 6-4
SDSU 2016-17 Record: 2-1, 0-0 Mountain West
SDSU's Last Game: Defeated San Diego Christian, 81-58
• Trey Kell was tabbed Preseason All-Mountain West, and Jalen McDaniels was picked as the Preseason MW Co-Freshman of the Year.
• Jeremy Hemsley leads the Aztecs with 20.7 points per game. Kell is second with 18.7 ppg.
• Dakarai Allen owns a team-best 18 boards and 7 blocks.
• Malik Pope, Max Hoetzel, Ben Perez, Matt Shrigley and Valentine Izundu did not play in the Aztec's game against San Diego Christian.
• The Bears have faced the Aztecs just once in neutral territory, losing to San Diego State 72-58 in last year's Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena.
• Cal has dropped three-straight to the Aztecs.
A LOOK AT THE ALL-TIME SERIES:
1939-40: W, 36-34 (A)
1940-41: L, 28-29 (H)
1941-42: L, 26-27 (A)
2004-05: W, 60-57 (A)
2005-06: W, 82-64 (H)
2006-07: L, 79-86 (A)
2007-08: W, 77-69 (H)
2010-11: L, 57-77 (H)
2011-12: L, 63-64 (A)
2015-16: L, 58-72 (N)
RETURN TO THE RANKINGS
Cal made its return to the Associated Press Top 25 Rankings on Nov. 14, appearing in the poll for the first time this season at No. 25. It marks Cal's first ranking since March 14, 2016, when the team earned a No. 23 ranking. The Bears were receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today Coaches' poll to open the season.
LAST TIME OUT
Cal defeated UC Irvine, 75-65, in a come-from-behind overtime triumph at Haas Pavilion.
•
Charlie Moore scored a game-high 38 points to break Shareef Abdur-Rahim's Cal freshman scoring record off 33.
•
Stephen Domingo came one rebound short of his first collegiate double-double, notching a career-high 11 points and 9 rebounds.
•
Kameron Rooks finished with a career-high 15 points.
•
Roger Moute a Bidias set a personal-best 7 rebounds.
• The Bears came back from a 13-point deficit, 36-23, early in the second half, forcing overtime on
Kameron Rooks' tip-in with 22 seconds left in the second period.
• Cal played without key starters
Ivan Rabb,
Grant Mullins and
Jabari Bird.
CHARLIE BUCKETS
Charlie Moore scored 38 points to break Shareef Abdur-Rahim's 20-year-old freshman scoring record en route to Cal's 75-65 overtime victory against UC Irvine. The Cal rookie went 10-20 from the field and an impressive 15-17 at the charity stripe to top Abdur-Rahim's Cal record of 33 points as a freshman, set against Northern Arizona on Nov. 25, 1995. Moore's points were the most by a Cal player since Jerome Randle had 39 at Washington State on Jan. 14, 2010. His 38 points are also the third-most in NCAA Division I action, and the most by any Pac-12 player through two weeks of the season.
NO MOUTE POINT
After averaging just 1.2 points through 67 games in his first three seasons with the Golden Bears,
Roger Moute a Bidias is off to a strong start in his final year as a Golden Bear. Through two games this season, he has already matched his single-season high of 3 steals (29 games, 2014-15) and set new single-game career-best totals in points (12), rebounds (7), assists (5) and steals (2). Moute a Bidias is averaging 8 points this season, far above his season-best 1.6 in 2014-15.
DOMINGO STEPS UP
With one season for the Bears under his belt,
Stephen Domingo has embraced his opportunity to be a spark for California. So far this season, Domingo has stepped up to average 9 points after averaging just 1.7 in his first season at Cal. He earned his first career start against South Dakota State, and hit the go-ahead three-pointer against UC Irvine in overtime to lead Cal to a win.
MONTGOMERY JOINS BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME
Mike Montgomery, who directed Cal to postseason appearances in each of his six seasons overseeing the Golden Bear men's basketball program and led the team to the 2010 Pac-10 title, was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 18. Montgomery was enshrined at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in Kansas City, Missouri alongside Mark Aguirre (DePaul), Bob Boozer (Kansas State), Doug Collins (Illinois State), Lionel Simmons (La Salle), Jamaal Wilkes (UCLA) and Dominique Wilkins (Georgia) and coach Hugh Durham (Georgia, Florida State, Jacksonville).
Under Montgomery, who coached the Bears from 2008-09 through 2013-14, Cal enjoyed its winningest six-year stretch in school history with 130 victories. He completed his career as the school's third-winningest coach with a 130-73 record and in 2010, guided the Bears to their first conference regular-season championship in 50 years. He led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament four times and to the National Invitation Tournament twice, becoming the only coach in school history to guide Cal to six consecutive postseason appearances.
WELCOME TO MY HAAS
Cal has extended its homecourt winning streak to 21 games when including a victory from the final contest of the 2014-15 campaign. The run is the second-longest in school history and tied for the sixth-longest current streak in the country.
Cal's Longest Homecourt Win Streaks
1. 26 -- Dec. 27, 1958 to Dec. 16, 1960
2. 21 -- March 1, 2015-current
3. 17 -- Feb. 20, 2011 to Jan. 29, 2012 and Feb. 2, 2002 to Feb. 15, 2003
Nation's Longest Active Homecourt Win Streaks
1. 42 -- Kansas
2. 39 -- Kentucky
3. 39 -- South Dakota State
4. 29 -- Stephen F. Austin
5. 27 -- Oregon
T6. 21 -- Cal
T6. 21 -- Virginia
T8. 18 -- Indiana
T8. 18 -- Little Rock
T8. 18 -- Akron
WEST COAST TRIO SIGNS WITH CAL FOR 2017
California picked up a trio of talented West Coast prospects in the early signing period when Earl Watson Elite teammates Jemarl Baker and Juhwan Harris-Dyson, as well as Utah's Trevin Knell signed their National Letters of Intent to join
Cuonzo Martin's program.
• Baker: A four-star guard and No. 66 on the ESPN Top 100 for the class of 2017.
• Harris-Dyson: A four-star guard who averaged 14.7 points and 13.6 rebounds as a junior at Heritage Christian School.
