Previewing Louisville at Cal

Louisville Cardinals (10-2, 0-0) at California Golden Bears (12-1, 0-0)

Game Time: 9 p.m.

Location: Haas Pavilion: Berkeley, Calif.

Television: ACC Network

Announcers: Chris Sylvester (play-by-play) and Ben Braun (analysis)

Favorite: Louisville by 8.5

Series: Tied, 1-1

Last Meeting: Louisville won, 85-68, on March 5, 2025 in Louisville

Series History:

Louisville

• G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J’Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, Sr.)
• C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

Cal

• G Justin Pippen (6-3, 190, So.)
• G Dai Dai Ames (6-2, 190, Jr.)
• F Chris Bell (6-7, 195, Sr.)
• F John Camden (6-8, 220, Gr.)
• F Lee Dort (6-10, 235, Sr.)

Injury Reports:

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

Cal’s Season to Date:

About California:

Louisville opens ACC play on Tuesday night against one of the most interesting teams in the conference headed into the New Year.

Mark Madsen’s Cal Bears are 12-1. They have a signature win over UCLA on a neutral court. Their only loss is a 99-96 shootout in a true road game against a god enough Kansas State team. They have a star in guard Dai Dai Ames. And yet, the computer rankings do not trust them at all.

As league play begins, Cal currently sits at No. 47 in the NET Rankings. They are 61st on KenPom and 66th over at Bart Torvik. The predictive metrics are waiting for the Bears to beat a team like, say, Louisville before they start to truly believe. This is the situation the Cards are walking into Tuesday night.

While Cal doesn’t play as fast as U of L or take quite as many threes, they resemble the Cards in that they’ll put shooters all over the floor, and each one of them can shoot the hell out of the ball. The Bears are currently hitting the triple at a 39.6 percent clip, good for the 14th best team mark in Division-I. They also shoot the ball very well inside the arc (54.2%) and at the free-throw line (77.2%).

Leading the charge is Ames, who spent last season at Virginia after playing for Kansas State in 2023-24. The 6’2 lefty from Chicago has six 21+ point games already this season, and is shooting a scorching 46.4 percent from three. While the three-point shot is certainly the most dangerous aspect of Ames’ game, he is far from a one dimensional player.

This is one of the better guards U of L is going to face this conference season, and if they aren’t up for the challenge, Ames is absolutely good enough to make them look silly and lead his team to its most impressive win of the season.

Another name Louisville fans should be familiar with is 6’7 forward Chris Bell, who spent the last three seasons at Syracuse. While Bell has been an up-and-down player throughout his college career, he has consistently killed the Cardinals. In four games against Louisville, Bell — a career single-digit scorer — is averaging 19.8 ppg and has gone a ridiculous 17-of-25 from beyond the arc. In 2024 he notched a career-high with 30 points in a win over the Cards. So, yeah, don’t let him get going from beyond the arc.

Senior forward John Camden (15.5 ppg) and sophomore guard JustinPippen (14.6 ppg) are the team’s other double figure scorers. Camden, who starred at Delaware last season and is now playing at his fourth school in five years, is a streaky scorer and is that classic 6’8 mismatch at the four that has given Louisville trouble so far this season. With Kasean Pryor unavailable, it’ll be on J’Vonne Hadley and Khani Rooths to keep Camden from being a difference-maker. Pippen, who played last season at Michigan, is the son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen. He’s got the best feel for the game of any player on this Cal team. His instincts and that feel are the primary reasons he leads this team in both assists and steals. He’s a dynamic combo guard who’s only going to get better as his college career continues.

Senior forward Lee Dort is producing in his first season as a college starter. The 6’10 Dallas native is all energy all the time. He’s far from the most skilled player on this team, but he dominates the glass, plays good defense, and has a nose for the ball that leads to a decent amount of easy buckets at the rim.

Defensively, Cal has been mostly solid this season. They don’t gamble a ton, but focus more on defending hard without fouling and forcing challenged shots. Louisville will need Mikel Brown Jr. to play without rust in his first game back on the floor in three weeks.

Notable:

—Louisville is 9-4 in its last 13 conference openers, including 7-4 since joining the ACC. The Cardinals have won 12 of their last 17 conference openers overall, but have lost three straight.

—Louisville is one of seven teams making the two-game West Coast swing to play Cal and Stanford for the first time this year. In 2024-25, Wake Forest was the only ACC program of the nine that made the trip to return home with two victories.

—Cal’s 12-1 start is the program’s best since the 1959-60 season, when the Bears went 28-1 before falling in the 1960 national championship game.

—Cal’s current 9-game winning streak is the 8th-longest active winning streak in the country. The winning streak is the longest for the Bears since a 9-game streak in 2008-09.

—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 1-0 in games against California.

—Cal head coach Mark Madsen is 0-1 in games against Louisville.

—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 167-63 all-time in conference play as a head coach. Kelsey is 78-38 in road league games.

—Cal is 12-0 this season when holding opponents to fewer than 99 points.

—Louisville is 0-2 in true road games so far this season.

—Cal forward Chris Bell, a transfer from Syracuse, is averaging 19.8 ppg and has shot 17-of-25 from beyond the arc in four games against Louisville in his career.

—Cal has 13 newcomers on its 2025-26 roster, nine transfers and four true freshmen.

—Louisville has hit the 100-point mark four times in a season for the first time since 1989-90.

—Louisville is 37-0 under head coach Pat Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Louisville is 120-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.

—Louisville has won 167 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 83, California 77