Cal Returns Home To Host Southern

BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team is back at home for the third time in four games to open the 2022-23 season as it hosts Southern University at 6 p.m. PT Friday in Haas Pavilion. The nonconference contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Scott Walker and Eldridge Recasner on the call.
 
Cal (0-3) is still in search of its first win of the early season, having dropped three games against UC Davis, Kansas State and UC San Diego, the latter coming this past Tuesday on the road. The Golden Bears will look to notch victory no. 1 against a winless Southern (0-3) squad that is wrapping up a season-opening four-game west coast swing in Berkeley.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Friday, Nov. 18 | 6 p.m. PT
• Location: Berkeley, Calif. | Haas Pavilion
• Watch: Pac-12 Network | Scott Walker (PxP) & Eldridge Recasner (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity App | Rich Cellini (PxP)
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

 
NOTEWORTHY

• The Bears are 1-0 all-time against Southern, having bested the Jaguars 82-63 on Nov. 23, 2004 in Berkeley.
• Friday's game is officially part of the 2022 Emerald Coast Classic's campus round. Both Cal and Southern will travel to Niceville, Florida next week to play a pair of games in separate brackets of the multi-team event on Nov. 25-26.
• Southern has already faced three west coast squads to open the season, including UNLV, Arizona and Saint Mary's.
• Cal is averaging 5.7 blocks per game so far this season, having tallied at least four in each contest. The squad's improved athleticism and length has been highlighted by freshman forward ND Okafor, who swatted a pair of shots in each of Cal's first two games.
• Junior guard Devin Askew is one of just seven Pac-12 players averaging at least 16 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. Askew (16.3 PPG/4.3 RPG/3.0 APG) has led Cal in scoring every game this season, including a career-high 19 points in the opener against UC Davis.
• Senior forward Kuany Kuany (11.3 PPG) has scored in double figures in all three games. He had four career double-figure games entering the season.
• Cal's backcourt has been plagued with early-season injuries, as guards DeJuan Clayton and Jarred Hyder have not yet played. The Bears continue to be without junior guard Jalen Celestine – the team's top returning scorer (7.5 PPG in 2021-22) – who is working his way back to full speed following an offseason knee procedure. A timetable for Celestine's return has not yet been determined.
• The Bears are third in the Pac-12 in free-throw percentage at 74.1 percent. They knocked down 21-of-24 attempts at the line on Tuesday at UC San Diego, marking the first time they've made 21 or more free throws in a single game since going 26-of-33 against Utah on Feb. 29, 2020.
• Cal has performed well in its previous two second halves against Kansas State (Nov. 11) and UC San Diego (Nov. 15). The Bears trailed by a combined 25 points and shot 34.2 percent with 23 turnovers in the first halves of both games before turning it around with a combined 47.2-percent clip and just nine turnovers in the two second halves. Cal outscored K-State and UCSD by a combined 14 points after halftime, despite coming up short in both games.
• Senior trio Lars Thiemann, Joel Brown and Kuany Kuany need five, seven and 13 games played to reach 100 for their respective careers.

 
UP NEXT
The Bears stay at home to host Texas State at 7 p.m. PT on Monday in Berkeley. The contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
 
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