It has been a long time since Cal fans could watch their Bears cruise stress-free on the hardwood.
Monday night’s season-opening 87-60 win over CSU Bakersfield at Haas Pavilion offered just that for the blue and gold faithful. The game was the Bears’ largest margin of victory since their 31-point blowout in 2020 over CSU Northridge.
“Tonight was a good win against a scrappy and tough Bakersfield team; very scrappy, very tough, very talented,” said Cal third-year head coach Mark Madsen. You (have) to give them credit. They had us on the ropes at times. I’m proud of our guys. … We had a good team performance.”
The visiting Roadrunners’ highlight was a combined 32 points from guard Dailin Smith and forward Ronald Jessamy, but it was all Cal to start the year.
Sophomore point guard Justin Pippen posted 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting and established himself as the team’s primary facilitator with a game-high seven assists, all with his NBA legend father Scottie sitting alongside Pete Newell Court.
Shooting guard Dai Dai Ames proved to be the Bears’ best around the rim with 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting. The junior transfer also tallied four assists and three rebounds.
Forward John Camden, expected to be Madsen’s new leading scorer after Jaylon Tyson and Andrej Stojaković, also finished with an efficient, game-high 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 3-for-7 from deep with three rebounds and two assists.
“It was a lot of fun, playing out there,” Camden said. “All my teammates had confidence; Coach had confidence in me. So, it was a great first night. We were all ready to kick things off and stop beating each other up in practice and go against someone else. It was a lot of fun.”
It would be remiss not to mention returning center Lee Dort. The backup to Mady Sissoko last season, Dort stepped into the starting role with force, collecting a career-high 15 points with nine rebounds and four assists after months of under-the-radar grinding.
“I worked on my body in the offseason,” Dort said. “I dropped a little weight and felt like I needed to get in better shape.”
Madsen raved with pride about Dort’s offseason regimen, in which the big man improved his strength, conditioning and his more-than-welcome playmaking.
Dort was seemingly proud of his effort postgame, too, but made it clear that it’s just the beginning of what will hopefully be a strong season to come.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing, keep moving in the right direction,” Dort said.
Cal is primed to do so.
At the forefront of Cal’s 27-point victory was the team’s drastically improved passing. After finishing dead last in the ACC in 2024-25 with 10.45 assists per game, the Bears started their new campaign with 20 assists.
That is a massive deal considering Cal’s game-high assist total last year was 18.
“It’s fun being on a team like that where you have to actually tell guys, ‘Hey, shoot the ball. We want you shooting that shot,’” Camden said.
The vibes are high in Berkeley, but there are some concerns as the Bears enter Thursday night’s test against Wright State, a Horizon League team coming off an 86-37 home win over Franklin.
For one, Cal forward Chris Bell finished with just 5 points on 1-for-5 shooting against Bakersfield; that’s not good, but the veteran from Syracuse might just need time to adjust.
Secondly, the Bears’ half-court defense flourished when fighting through screens, opposed to the usual drop coverage Madsen has employed over his first two seasons. Nevertheless, Cal struggled to defend in transition. How will the defense’s true identity reveal itself?
And while it might’ve been lost in Cal’s offensive sauce, the Bears’ 3-point shooting was abysmal. Outside of Camden, the team was 2-for-16 from deep — especially worrisome after the Bears finished third-worst in the ACC last season at 31.5%.
But Madsen has a vision — not just for hosting Wright State, but for everything.
“We are in the process of building this program into a national championship contender,” Madsen said. “And there’s a lot of steps that are being taken, and we’re going to get there.”
Stay tuned.
