Cal handled its business Wednesday night, but the bigger picture is already waiting.
Even without head coach Mark Madsen on the sideline, the Bears opened their season 2-0 with an 84-70 win over Radford at Haas Pavilion, then turned the page toward a far tougher assignment: No. 10 Houston on Sunday at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
The matchup is set for 5:30 p.m. Pacific time and will air on The CW network.
Madsen missed the game because of a family emergency, leaving assistant coach Adam Mazarei to run things in his place. Cal still found enough firepower to survive a closer-than-expected night, leaning on Nojus Indrusaitis, who poured in a game-high 30 points and drilled six three-pointers.
The Bears did not exactly coast. They were sitting on just a one-point lead with 12:37 left before finally creating some separation late. Radford kept hanging around after Cal built an eight-point halftime cushion, but the Bears answered every push and closed the game with a stronger finish.
Cal’s offense was sharp from deep in the first half, when it knocked down nine three-pointers and took a 45-37 lead into the break. Indrusaitis led the way with 12 first-half points on 3-for-4 shooting, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Jake Wilkins added 11 points before halftime, going 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 on three-pointers.
The Bears controlled most of the opening 20 minutes. Mantas Kocanas gave Cal a little breathing room with a three-pointer at the 10:57 mark to push the lead to 24-20, and Cal eventually stretched that margin to as many as nine before settling for an eight-point edge at halftime.
Cal shot 48.2% in the first half and went 9-for-17 from three-point range. Radford, meanwhile, shot 47.1% but made only 4 of 13 from long distance. The Bears also had the edge at the line, making eight free throws while Radford hit just one.
The second half turned tighter before Cal pulled away. Indrusaitis opened the half with a three-pointer 1:10 in, extending the lead to 11, but Radford quickly trimmed the gap to six. The Highlanders then cut it to 52-51 on Tristan Gross’ follow shot with 12:37 remaining.
Cal answered immediately. Jake Wilkins finished an alley-oop from Michael Cooper to put the Bears back up by three, Jordan Ross followed with a three-point play to make it 58-52, and Indrusaitis buried another three at the 8:38 mark to push the lead back to nine. Cooper added another three with 7:16 left, and Cal’s advantage grew to 13.
Lee Dort sat out for the second straight game with a sprained ankle. He is the only returning starter from last season’s Cal team.
Cal started Jordan Ross, Indrusaitis, Wilkins, Sammie Yeanay and Kocanas.
Radford, out of Radford, Virginia, dropped to 0-1 after losing its opener to San Francisco 76-62 on Monday. The Highlanders were picked sixth in the nine-team Big South preseason poll after finishing 16-16 last season and going 9-7 in league play.
Houston, which beat La Salle 94-55 in its first game, brings a much steeper challenge. The Cougars went 30-7 last season and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. They also played in the national championship game in 2025, falling to Florida 65-63.
Radford’s next game is Monday against eighth-ranked Tennessee. Dai Dai Ames, Cal’s leading scorer last season, was in Tennessee’s starting lineup for the Vols’ 90-59 win over Wofford. Cal was a 16.5-point favorite against Radford, according to FanDuel.
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No. 1 Cal Survived A Two Overtime Scare Against Top 5 Fordham
No. 1 Cal had to work for every inch of its latest win, but the Bears kept their momentum rolling with a 20-19 victory over No. 5 Fordham in a game that swung back and forth all afternoon. Sophomore attacker Tomas Perrone was at the center of it, scoring five goals and getting plenty of help from Kai Inoue, Dom Brown and Andras Toth as Cal improved to 15-4 and won for the sixth straight time.
The Bears also wrapped up their home slate without a loss, a fitting finish for a team that has spent much of the season looking like the standard in the sport. Fordham pushed the top-ranked Bears into a second overtime and made them earn every possession, but Cal found just enough to survive a matchup that felt more like a warning shot than a routine regular-season result. [Read more 🡒]