California men’s basketball will begin its first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) road trip of the 2026 season this week. The Golden Bears, currently holding a 13-2 record overall and 1-1 in conference play, are scheduled to face No. 21 Virginia (12-2, 1-1 ACC) on Wednesday, January 7 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Following that matchup, Cal will travel to Blacksburg for its inaugural game against Virginia Tech (12-3, 1-1 ACC) on Saturday, January 10 at Cassell Coliseum.
Both games will be available on ACC Network. Mike Corey and Corey Alexander will provide commentary for the Cal-Virginia game, while Patrick O’Keefe and Eric Devendorf will call the action for the contest against Virginia Tech. Radio coverage with Justin Allegri can be accessed through the Cal Bears Sports Network on 810 AM and The Varsity App.
In their most recent outing, California secured a narrow victory over Notre Dame with a final score of 72-71 at Haas Pavilion. Dai Dai Ames made two three-pointers in the last eleven seconds and converted a game-winning free throw. California had trailed by as many as twelve points in the first half but managed to reduce the deficit to four by halftime despite shooting only 32.1 percent compared to Notre Dame’s forty percent. Both teams finished with eleven three-pointers each, while Notre Dame led in rebounding.
Ames finished with a game-high twenty-three points for Cal. Chris Bell contributed fifteen points and Justin Pippen added fourteen; Lee Dort collected eleven rebounds. For Notre Dame, Braeden Shrewsberry scored twenty-one points, Jalen Haralson had seventeen, Cole Certa posted sixteen, and Carson Towt grabbed fifteen rebounds.
“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,” according to team notes.
“With 15 points, Chris Bell scored in double digits for the 12th time this season,” team staff noted.
“Justin Pippen (14 points) hit double digits for the 11th time and recorded his third game with no turnovers committed,” according to team statistics.
“John Camden has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season,” staff added.
“With ten rebounds, Lee Dort recorded his fourth game with double-digit boards this season,” according to Cal’s athletic department.
“Milos Ilic scored a season-high seven points,” team officials reported.
“Cal is now thirteen-and-oh this season when holding opponents to seventy-two points or fewer,” as stated by Cal’s media relations.
“Cal committed a season-low three turnovers,” according to program data.
Earlier in the year, California achieved an eighty-to-seventy-two win over No.18 UCLA at Chase Center during the Empire Classic finale on November twenty-fifth—its first win over a ranked opponent since two thousand twenty. The lead changed several times during the first half before Cal pulled ahead permanently after a thirteen-to-two rally early in the second half. Chris Bell led all scorers with twenty-two points; Dai Dai Ames added fourteen—all coming after halftime—and Justin Pippen finished with thirteen points.
Team officials noted: “With a game-high twenty-two points, Chris Bell scored in double digits for the sixth straight game and registered his third twenty-point game as a Bear.”
Bell also surpassed one thousand career collegiate points during that performance: “Bell also crossed the one-thousand-point margin in his collegiate career with his effort, now with one-thousand-seven career points.”
DeJuan Campbell returned from injury during that match: “DeJuan Campbell returned from injury for his first appearance of the season and scored four points.”
Milos Ilic reached another milestone: “With four rebounds, Milos Ilic recorded his five-hundredth career rebound.”
Rytis Petraitis reached double figures: “With twelve points, Rytis Petraitis tallied his first double-digit game of the season.”
According to historical records reviewed by ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/25/california-golden-bears), California’s twelve-and-one start marks its best since going twenty-eight-and-one during its national championship runner-up campaign in nineteen sixty. The nine-game winning streak between November eighteenth and December twenty-first matched their longest since two thousand eight–two thousand nine.
California also recorded ninety or more points twice consecutively—for the first time since two thousand fourteen—in games against Cal State Fullerton and Kansas State. Against Morgan State earlier this year they posted their highest point total of ninety-seven along with their best field goal percentage at fifty-nine point three percent; it was also their best performance from beyond-the-arc (fifty-five percent) and free throw line (ninety-five point seven percent).
The Golden Bears have shot above fifty percent from the field five times so far this year—a benchmark achieved only occasionally over recent seasons—and won four out of those five contests.
Defensively, California remains unbeaten when holding opponents below seventy-three points or under forty percent shooting accuracy from opponents—a trend confirmed by NCAA statistical databases (https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1).
As per December thirtieth national rankings published by NCAA statistics services (https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1), California is unique among Division I teams as it features three different players ranked within top-forty nationally across various categories: Dai Dai Ames is fortieth nationally in field goals made; Chris Bell is thirty-ninth nationwide for free throw percentage; John Camden is fortieth nationally for three-pointers made.
Four starters average double-digit scoring numbers so far: Dai Dai Ames leads at seventeen point six per game followed by Chris Bell (fourteen point eight), Justin Pippen (fourteen point eight), and John Camden (thirteen point eight).
Dai Dai Ames continues as leading scorer partly due to strong perimeter shooting—especially an eleven-of-thirteen showing across two games against Fullerton and Kansas State—and has produced seven games surpassing twenty-point totals so far this year.
Chris Bell’s performances include five successful three-pointers within four minutes against Kansas State resulting in a personal-best twenty-seven-point effort despite defeat; he also notched five threes versus UCLA while maintaining high efficiency rates both from floor shots (forty-seven point two percent) and free throws (eighty-nine point six percent).
John Camden has connected on at least one three-pointer each outing—with forty-one total makes placing him sixty-fifth nationally—and set personal highs including twenty-five against Northwestern State featuring six threes made during that contest alone.
Justin Pippen leads team distribution efforts averaging four point two assists per contest—including seven assists versus CSUB—while TT Carr previously held nation-leading assist-to-turnover ratio after recording nine assists against Morgan State compared to just one turnover earlier this year.
Senior Lee Dort ranks among national leaders defensively by averaging nearly six defensive rebounds per contest—significantly improved from last year—and has doubled previous offensive output figures after transferring into an expanded role inside California’s frontcourt rotation spanning new transfers ranging between six-foot-seven up through seven feet tall among newcomers.
Coach Mark Madsen recently celebrated his hundredth head-coaching victory following California’s win over Cal State Fullerton—making him unique among active Division I coaches as both an NBA champion player twice-over with Los Angeles Lakers alongside others such as Speedy Claxton or Mo Williams who’ve won titles elsewhere but not multiple times like Madsen did consecutively during early two thousands NBA seasons documented here: https://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions-index
Now entering its second ACC campaign following conference realignment announced last academic year—background available via Pac-12 reporting archives—the program returns several experienced contributors including Rytis Petraitis (twenty-nine starts last year), DeJuan Campbell (sixteen starts), Lee Dort plus numerous transfer additions providing depth throughout roster rotations already tested early through nonconference scheduling such as televised matches versus AP-ranked opponents including UCLA referenced above via ESPN box scores https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401603375
Ticket information is available through official athletics channels online or by calling provided numbers listed on CalBears.com.
