Cal is off to its best start in more than 65 years. However, coach Mark Madsen’s team faces its biggest test of the season so far when No. 16 Louisville travels to Berkeley, Calif., for both schools’ Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Tuesday.
Neither team has played in more than a week. The Golden Bears (12-1) earned their ninth straight win by beating Columbia 74-56 on Dec. 21 in their final nonconference game. The Cardinals (10-2), meanwhile, played without their two top point guards the day before but still blasted Montana 94-54.
There has been no update since the Dec. 20 victory on the status of freshman Mikel Brown Jr., who has missed Louisville’s last two games due to a back injury, nor on Kobe Rodgers, who sat out the Montana game while in concussion protocol. A status update could come Monday evening when both teams release their availability reports.
“We’re hoping the time off will allow (Brown) to heal … Hope he makes progress over the next couple days and hoping to have him and Kobe back when we get back from break,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said after the Montana win.
A five-star recruit, Brown earned preseason All-ACC honors earlier this season. In 10 games, the 6-foot-5 Brown is averaging 16.6 points and 5.1 assists per game. Rodgers, who played for Kelsey in 2023-24 at College of Charleston, averages 4.9 points per contest.
Louisville is looking for its first road win of the season, although the Cardinals have won a pair of neutral-court games. Currently ranked 17th in the NET rankings, the Cardinals’ best wins have come against Kentucky (27th) at home and Indiana (33rd) on a neutral floor.
Despite having their best start since the 1959-60 Golden Bears started 28-1 before losing in the national championship game, the Bears are not among the top-ranked teams. They come in at No. 48 in the NET, with their best win coming against UCLA in San Francisco. KenPom.com ranks Cal’s nonconference schedule 339th out of 365 teams.
Madsen was not happy about some issues in the Bears’ win over Columbia. One in particular was the team’s lack of communication in transition. That could be problematic against a Louisville team that he said can play randomly or through set plays.
“We haven’t had breakdowns like this recently,” he said. “Where nobody picked up a man, and then everyone’s screaming that there’s a wide-open player. So I’m not satisfied. I’m not at all. We have Louisville coming in, and we have our work cut out for us.”
Dai Dai Ames, a 6-foot-1 guard, leads the Bears, scoring 17.7 points per game. The transfer from Virginia has scored 20 or more six times this season, including a 21-point performance against Columbia.
Tuesday’s game could come down to perimeter play. Louisville leads the ACC, averaging 12.6 3-pointers per game, and the Cardinals’ 36% shooting clip is seventh in the conference. Cal makes 38.8% of its treys, third-best in the ACC, and the school ranks sixth, draining 9.3 a game.
Ames and forward John Camden are Cal’s top outside threats, as they make 46.4% and 44.3%, respectively, and combine to make five per game. Guards Ryan Conwell, who shoots 39.3% from beyond the arc, and Isaac McKneely, who connects on 40.7%, are Louisville’s top perimeter options. The Cardinals’ pair average 6.6 3-pointers per game.
–Field Level Media
