California returns to home court vs. Wright State with new passing mentality

California will once again reserve space for VIP seating when the Golden Bears return to their home court to take on Wright State in a non-conference men's basketball game Thursday night in Berkeley, Calif.

With his Hall of Fame father, Scottie, watching from the front row, transfer Justin Pippen began his Cal career with 15 points and seven assists when California (1-0) opened with a crowd-pleasing 87-60 triumph over visiting Cal State Bakersfield on Monday night.

Pippen, a California native who played last season at Michigan, was one of four transfer starters for the Golden Bears. Cal coach Mark Madsen nonetheless came away most impressed with the lone returning starter, center Lee Dort, a senior who recorded career highs in points (15) and assists (four) while adding nine rebounds.

"There's probably not a player I'm more proud of than Lee Dort," Madsen gushed to reporters after the win. "Over the summer, Lee Dort changed his body, changed his nutrition, got in the gym even more -- he has an unbelievable work ethic. Four assists and one turnover, that shows how unselfish he is."

Somewhat surprisingly, given their relative unfamiliarity with one another, Cal amassed 20 assists in the game after averaging just 10.5 -- 354th in the nation -- last season. The Golden Bears finished just 14-19 in 2024-25.

More than 2,000 miles away in Dayton, Ohio, Wright State (1-0) was in an even more impressive ball-sharing mode when the Raiders totaled 27 assists in an 86-37 shellacking of Division III Franklin College in their opener Monday.

Attempting to bounce back from its first losing season (15-18) since 2014-15, coach Clint Sargent praised his team for showing the toughness it'll need on the road against Atlantic Coast Conference competition like Cal.

"It's something we've been working on since the summer," he noted to the media about an aggressive approach to workouts. "We've been doing it every day, and you never know how it'll show up on the floor. But to get (18) offensive rebounds, to get to the free-throw line (21) times ... those numbers travel well. You match that with good defense, and you can win a lot of games."

Ten of the 11 Raiders who saw action in the opener grabbed at least one offensive rebound. Bryan Etumnu had three among his team-high seven boards, while Andrea Holden had three among his six off the bench.

--Field Level Media