In a rare weekday day game, Cal men's basketball will open up with a 2 PM contest against their UC brethren, from UC San Diego, opening up their 2021-22 season. UC San Diego moved up from the Division II level a year ago, going 7-10 playing mainly against Big West competition (where they will compete as a full member starting in the 2024-25 season).

For Cal, this marks the beginning of a pivotal season under Mark Fox, as the Bears had the benefit of a full offseason, but will need to figure out where there scoring is and what their rotations look like early, as a Saturday contest with UNLV in Las Vegas looms large.

When: 2 PM, November 9th, 2021

Where: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley CA

TV: Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein and Ben Braun on the call)

UC San Diego is one of the newest D1 programs, playing their first year at the D1 level a year ago. They went 7-10 (4-10 against D1 opponents) as they made their transition on a lot of 3-point shooting. 49% of UCSD's shots came from beyond the arc, where the Tritons converted at a 37% rate. UCSD also allowed opponents to make 38% of their 3s, and only shot 60.7% from the foul line

Notable Players

G Jake Killingsworth - a former Bay Area standout at San Mateo Serra, Killingsworth shot 41% from beyond the arc a year ago as a graduate transfer from Columbia

F Toni Rocak - a 6'9" forward who served in a sixth man role a year ago, Rocak has played for the Swiss national team and averaged a team high 12.8 points per game, along with 5.3 rebounds. Rocak also took the highest percentage of shots while on the floor, more than any other player in the country in 2020-21 (Cal's Matt Bradley was 27th in this metric)

F J'Raan Brooks - The former Washington and USC forward has found a third home in La Jolla, and while it's unclear if he starts, he's the highest rated recruit among the UCSD roster

- Cal played an exhibition last Monday against Cal State LA, which wasn't too telling other than maybe who the Bears expect to get some scoring from. Grant Anticevich led the way with 23 points on 10-12 shooting, and the fifth-year Aussie forward is expected to replace some of the scoring Bradley provided in the past.

- It won't be just Anticevich, as Cal started a lineup of Joel Brown, Jordan Shepherd, Kuany Kuany, Anticevich and Andre Kelly in the opener. Fox has tinkered with the lineup in the past, using a multitude of lineups a year ago, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see that lineup moved around a bit.

- Monty Bowser, Marsalis Roberson and DJ Thorpe were all out for the exhibition, and Fox noted in the aftermath that one of them could be back. Bowser was sporting a boot at the exhibition.

- Sam Alajiki was the first of the two freshmen available to come off the bench in the exhibition, as both him and Obinna Anyanwu can play the 3 and 4 spots. Their length, along with the length of other returners in Kuany, Jalen Celestine, and Bowser (when healthy) is noticeable at the wing spots.

- If Thorpe isn't back, Cal doesn't have as much big man depth with Kelly and Lars Thiemann as the sole centers available.

- Cal brought back Anticevich and Makale Foreman for one final year, as Shepherd joined them in utilizing a super senior season. Kelly is the other senior on the roster with an option to come back with a Covid year.

Prediction:

Kenpom: 79-63 Cal

Vegas: No Line

Travers: 82-65 Cal