Everything to know before Cal takes on Syracuse men’s basketball
Syracuse has lost six of its last seven games, the most recent of which being Saturday's loss to Virginia. SU hosts Cal hoping to snap the skid Wednesday. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
The pain and suffering continues for Syracuse in Adrian Autry’s third season. The Orange’s loss to Virginia Saturday was the latest chapter in a catastrophic Atlantic Coast Conference slate, featuring six losses in their last seven games.
The embarrassment only continues to pour into the national spotlight. As ACC staples like Duke and North Carolina put on all-time thrillers, SU made headlines for the benching of freshman guard Kiyan Anthony. With or without Anthony, the Orange still would’ve fallen to the Cavaliers, yet the move shows the state of the program in the current college landscape.
With seven games remaining, Syracuse looks to get back on track against Cal on Wednesday. The Golden Bears have won four of their last six games and possess a 3-4 record in Quad 1 games in Mark Madsen’s third season.
Here’s everything to know about Cal (17-7, 5-6 ACC) before it faces Syracuse (13-11, 4-7 ACC) Wednesday night in the JMA Wireless Dome:
All time series
Syracuse leads 4-1.
Last time they played
On Feb. 1, 2025, Syracuse played its first-ever game in Berkeley, California, knocking off the Golden Bears 75-66. The win broke SU’s three-game losing streak and finished its West Coast road trip on a positive note after a nine-point loss to Stanford three days earlier.
The contest became a battle of the guards as J.J. Starling dropped 18 points on 18 shots while Lucas Taylor scored 19 in the best game of his SU career. Cal’s leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic missed the game due to injury. Golden Bears guards Jeremiah Wilkinson and Jovan Blacksher Jr. combined for 40 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Orange’s 17-point halftime lead.
Syracuse went on to lose by 29 points to Duke four days later.
KenPom Odds
Syracuse has a 60% chance of winning, with a projected score of 74-71.
The Golden Bears report
Madsen took over the program after Cal posted a 3-29 record in the 2022-23 season. Since the nine-year NBA veteran took over, the Golden Bears have made steady progress each year, going from 13 wins to 14 and now 17 with seven regular-season games to go.
Cal is still very much alive for the NCAA Tournament, ranking as a 13-seed in Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology on Tuesday. The Golden Bears would likely need to take care of business against their remaining ACC schedule and make a run in the conference tournament to break their decade-long March Madness drought.
Cal enters off a 22-point home loss to Clemson but has impressed throughout most of the year. A home win over North Carolina is its best, while victories over UCLA and Miami also stick out. The Golden Bears lost Stojakovic, Wilkinson and Blacksher but rebuilt through the transfer portal.
Dai Dai Ames came in from Virginia. Justin Pippen, the son of Naismith Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, transferred from Michigan. Forward John Camden entered out of Delaware, and of course, former Syracuse forward Chris Bell returned home to California.
The Golden Bears rank in the middle of the ACC pack with 77.8 points per game (11th) and 71.5 points allowed per game (ninth). Cal’s best attribute is picking off its opponents, ranking sixth in the country with a 7.0% steal rate. Defensively, it posts a 102.3 (61st) adjusted efficiency and 48.6% (64th) effective field goal mark.
How Syracuse beats Cal
Even with all the paranoia and struggles within Syracuse’s last four weeks of basketball, this is a winnable game at home. The Orange can knock off Cal by limiting its 3-point barrages. The Golden Bears currently rank third in the conference with a 37.3% mark from deep, while 35% of their scoring distribution comes from 3.
Camden and Ames are the biggest threats, both shooting over 41%. But so are Bell and Pippen despite shooting around 35%. The Orange will need to fight over screens and close out on everything. If not, this could be another ugly game.
Stat to know: 34.7, 34.6
In its last two losses to North Carolina and Virginia, Syracuse lost the rebounding margin by 10 each time. Luckily for the Orange, Cal is also among the worst rebounding teams in the ACC. SU ranks 15th with 34.7 team rebounds per game, while the Golden Bears are just behind at 34.6. Only Stanford and Wake Forest are worse.
The numbers decline from there. Syracuse ranks 287th in the country with a 33% defensive rebounding rate. Cal ranks 337th at a 25.4% offensive rebounding mark. Someone will have to come down with the rebound, right?
Player to watch: Dai Dai Ames, guard, No. 7
Slowing down Cal’s 3-point prowess begins with slowing down Ames. The 6-foot-2 junior out of Chicago, Illinois, transferred from Virginia and emerged as the Golden Bears’ top option. Ames averages 17 points per game on 41% 3-point shooting.
As the No. 2 prospect in Illinois’ 2023 class, Ames has hopped around college basketball at Kansas State, UVA and now Cal. His success has grown each season, moving from 8.7 points per game a year ago to nearly double that. Ames tallied 309 field goal attempts thus far, 59 more than Pippen’s second-best 250.
