Cal will attempt to do something it has failed to complete in the Mark Madsen coaching era when the Golden Bears go for a third straight season-opening victory in a nonconference matchup with Cal State Fullerton on Monday night in Berkeley, Calif.
After going 0-12 to begin Mark Fox’s final season at the coaching helm in 2022-23, Cal lost the second game of Madsen’s employment to Pacific in November 2023 before falling at Vanderbilt last November following a pair of curtain-raising wins.
Madsen’s third season has opened with a pair of home wins, dispatching of Cal State Bakersfield and Wright State. The Fullerton matchup completes a three-game homestand, after which Cal (2-0) will travel to the Midwest to take on Kansas State.
While 27- and 10-point wins might look good on paper, Madsen and his players have not been satisfied with the means of the first two victories. In particular, the Golden Bears have shot poorly from 3-point range, going a total of 10-for-44 (22.7%).
“I felt like we didn’t play good at all,” Cal’s Justin Pippen told the media after he went 0-for-4 from deep in the win over Wright State. “This is why we play these games, these nonconference games, for a reason — getting us prepared, getting us ready. So we have to go back to the drawing board.”
If there’s good news for the Golden Bears, it’s that Fullerton (1-1) struggled to defend the arc in Saturday afternoon’s 92-82 loss at Wyoming. The Titans were outscored 36-9 on 3-pointers, watching the hosts drill 12 of 31 (38.7%).
The Titans don’t at all resemble the team that went 6-26 a year ago. Freshmen KJ Garris and Bryce Cofield provided a combined 35 points in the season-opening, 136-82 win over Division III Caltech; Valparaiso transfer Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro put up 21 points at Wyoming.
“There’s very little drop-off, if any, (on the roster),” coach Dedrique Taylor told reporters. “Anybody could start, anybody could play. I think what we’re seeing is the ability to play with multiple guys.”
