Cal wasted no time putting on a show in its season opener Monday night, racing past Division II Adams State 115-86 at Haas Pavilion and setting a school record for first-half scoring with 66 points.
The Bears were sharp from the jump. They made their first six 3-pointers, opened up a 41-23 lead and never let the game drift anywhere close to uncomfortable.
By halftime, Cal had already piled up 66 points, breaking the program’s previous first-half mark of 63, set in 1990 against U.S. International.
Cal came up short of the school’s single-game scoring record of 127 points, set in a 127-67 win over Oklahoma City in 1972, when the Bears scored 76 in the second half.
Even without center Lee Dort, the only returning starter from last season’s team, Cal had more than enough firepower. Dort sat out with an ankle injury, but the Bears barely missed a beat. They made 11 of their first 14 shots, built an early 31-14 cushion and kept stretching the margin from there.
Sammie Yeanay, Nojus Indrusaitis and Michael Cooper led the way offensively. Yeanay finished with 21 points, Indrusaitis scored 20 and Cooper topped the team with 24. Yeanay also added a few windmill dunks to the mix.
The Bears’ starting five featured Yeanay, Indrusaitis, Jake Wilkins, Jordan Ross and Mantas Kocanas.
By the time Cal pushed the lead to 39-23 with 9:15 left in the first half, the Bears had already connected on all six of their attempts from beyond the arc. They carried a 66-37 lead into the break after shooting 62.9% from the field and 7-for-11 from 3-point range, while also committing just three first-half turnovers and holding Adams State to 36.1% shooting.
Cal kept pouring it on after halftime and reached the 100-point mark with 6:17 left, going ahead 101-66 on the way to the final 115-86 margin. The Bears shot 60.6% for the game, hit 11 of 23 from 3-point range and turned it over only eight times.
Adams State, based in Alamosa, Colorado, was picked ninth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll, with Black Hills State the clear favorite to win the league.
Cal, which went 22-12 last season, returns to action Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion against Radford. The Highlanders, picked sixth in the nine-team Big South preseason poll, opened their 2026-27 season Monday against San Francisco.
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