California gets its “welcome to the Atlantic Coast Conference” moment when it tips off its first East Coast trip as a member of the fabled league with a visit to Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon.
The Golden Bears (7-5, 0-1) already played one ACC contest, but it hardly felt like one in an 89-81 home loss to longtime Pac-12 Conference rival Stanford last month.
That was part of a current 1-4 skid that has seen Cal squander the momentum from a 6-1 start. That said, coach Mark Madsen doesn’t foresee a repeat of last season, when his team had lost six of eight heading into conference play, then couldn’t snap out of it en route to an 0-3 start in the Pac-12.
One reason for his optimism is the return of guard DJ Campbell from an injury that saw him miss six of seven games. He contributed seven points in 20 minutes to Cal’s 71-50 neutral-site loss to then-No. 23 San Diego State in its most recent outing on Dec. 21.
“We had kind of a rash of injuries in the non-conference last year and then after that we struggled in some of those one-possession games because guys got worn down,” Madsen said. “We have much more depth this year.”
That depth will be tested by Pitt (10-2, 1-0), a foe the Golden Bears haven’t seen since losing to the Panthers in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Pitt has played like a tournament-worthy team so far this season, already having beaten West Virginia, LSU and Ohio State. The Panthers opened ACC play with an impressive 64-59 win at Virginia Tech on Dec. 7.
While the Panthers have been led offensively by one of the most productive guard tandems in the country — Ishmael Leggett and Jaland Lowe — forward Zack Austin has commanded the spotlight of late. Two games after he hit a game-winner against Ohio State, he was rewarded with a spot in the starting lineup, and the Panthers haven’t lost since.
Austin has gotten progressively better in those three starts, going from nine points against Virginia Tech to 18 against Eastern Kentucky to 23 against Sam Houston in Pitt’s most recent game on Dec. 21.
He’ll likely be matched up this time around against Cal star Andrej Stojakovic, who is far from a one-man show, Lowe warned.
“(Stojakovic) has teammates around him that put him in position where he’s able to play at a high level,” Lowe said. “They’re not going to make the trip over here for nothing.”
–Field Level Media
