MBB: Duke at California (Wednesday 1/14, 11pm ET, ACCN) Pregame & In-Game Thread

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The 6th-ranked Duke Blue Devils (15-1, 4-0 ACC) defeated a pair of ranked teams in Louisville and SMU, and now they'll take a trip to that part of the Atlantic Coast that actually borders the Pacific Ocean. (Maybe that makes sense if you live near the Panama Canal.) First they face the California Golden Bears (13-4, 1-3 ACC) in Berkeley's 11,800-seat Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night. That's late Wednesday night for many of you. The game tips off at 8pm local time, or 11pm Eastern, to watch or stream live -- or maybe record and watch later -- on the ACC Network (streaming link, listen, live stats).

www.espn.com

#6 Duke vs. California 1/14/26 - Stream the Game Live - Watch ESPN

Stream the NCAA Men's Basketball Game #6 Duke vs. California live from ACCN on Watch ESPN. Live stream on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
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The Bears took their own cross-country trip this past week, going 0-2 in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In their most recent game, they visited the House of Hokies on Saturday and lost to Virginia Tech 78-75 (recap, box score, highlights). Junior guard Dai Dai Ames had 21 points for Cal, shooting 8-of-12 in the field, while senior forward Chris Bell added 12 points. They had a chance to take the game to overtime, and set up a Valparaiso-esque final play for sophomore guard (and son of Scottie) Justin Pippen, but he missed the tying 3-point shot.


Since we're talking geography, permit me a digression about two of the players I just mentioned. Based on the driving distance from Google Maps, arena to arena, former UVA player Dai Dai Ames (2,795 miles) and former Syracuse player Chris Bell (2,781 miles) have two of the longest in-conference transfers I've ever seen.

There was a longer ACC transfer in 2024: Cole Kastner, a Virginia lacrosse player, went 2,821 miles to complete his eligibility by playing Stanford basketball. And he switched sports, so that number is from field to arena.

It's hard to imagine finding a longer distance that a player has made for an in-conference transfer. In the Big Ten, going from Rutgers to Oregon would be 2,912 miles. (Somehow UCLA, USC, and Washington are closer.) I didn't calculate the numbers for the Big 12 (probably BYU to UCF) or the SEC (either Missouri to Florida, or maybe Texas to South Carolina), but you can look at a map and quickly surmise that none of those would be longer.

Pretty sure the maximum would be 3,041 miles in the ACC, from Haas Pavilion (California) to Watsco Center (Miami). We'll just have to wait for head coach Jai Lucas to make that happen.

Thanks for letting me get that out of my system. I'll have more to say about the California Golden Bears later. Until then, practice your early evening naps and discuss Wednesday night's game here.
 
3 thoughts...

1. I will be there. I've waited so long to see Duke play a regular season game out here (the last time was last century!). Very excited. I know at least one other guy from DBR will be going. Who else? And anyone going to the Duke pre-game at the Cornerstone?

2. I watched Louisville play Cal in person. The Bears were not impressive. The Cards jumped out to a double digit lead early and never gave it up. It was up to 30 at one point, then Cal made a comeback to get it back in the teens but never got it down to single digits. That game was the first real matchup of Cal's season. They had beaten UCLA when UCLA was ranked, but it turns out that perhaps UCLA ain't great shakes anyway. Since the Ville game, they have beat Notre Dame by 1 at Hass, then lost to both ACC teams in Virginia. Nobody on Cal worries me significantly. I don't think there's a Jason Kidd and Lamont Murray waiting. Duke should dominate, but that's why they play the game. Some guy (maybe Bell?) may decide to channel those Cal guys of old and make it a game. Hopefully Duke comes out strong and put them away early.

3. I have seats right across from the Cal bench. It's kind of fun watching Madsen. He's one of those coaches that always seems to coach with a scowl on his face. Maybe it's just me, but it's somehow funnier given his height. I hope he makes me laugh a lot on Wednesday.

9F
 
kako said:
I will be there. I've waited so long to see Duke play a regular season game out here (the last time was last century!).
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I always appreciate the personal dispatches; they make the board a better place. Please tell us about your experience in the postgame thread, and if you can, take and share photos of the players, or Mark Madsen scowling, or whatever.

My geography tangent above prevented me from going on a history tangent. GoDuke's opponent history says that the Duke men visited Berkeley once before, in December 1982, but Sports Reference says that game was actually at a neutral site, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, where the NBA's Golden State Warriors used to play. (Cal's home floor at the time was Harmon Gym, which was later renovated into Haas Pavilion.) If that's the case, then Wednesday's game will be the first time the Golden Bears have hosted the Blue Devils.

The 1982-83 season was the freshman year for The Class That Saved Coach K: Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, Johnny Dawkins, David Henderson, and Weldon Williams. Here's the rest of the roster.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1106635245862965248

Way back then, California beat Duke 76-71. Surprisingly, I was able to find a box score, from the archives of United Press International. Johnny Dawkins had a game-high 22 points (8-11 FG, 6-6 FT) for the Devils, while future NBA shot doctor Chip Engelland scored 12 points (5-7 FG, 2-2 FT). Meanwhile, Michael Chavez had 21 points and Michael Pitts added 19 for the Bears in the win.
 
brevity said:
I always appreciate the personal dispatches; they make the board a better place. Please tell us about your experience in the postgame thread, and if you can, take and share photos of the players, or Mark Madsen scowling, or whatever.

My geography tangent above prevented me from going on a history tangent. GoDuke's opponent history says that the Duke men visited Berkeley once before, in December 1982, but Sports Reference says that game was actually at a neutral site, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, where the NBA's Golden State Warriors used to play. (Cal's home floor at the time was Harmon Gym, which was later renovated into Haas Pavilion.) If that's the case, then Wednesday's game will be the first time the Golden Bears have hosted the Blue Devils.

The 1982-83 season was the freshman year for The Class That Saved Coach K: Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, Johnny Dawkins, David Henderson, and Weldon Williams. Here's the rest of the roster.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1106635245862965248
evident.
Way back then, California beat Duke 76-71. Surprisingly, I was able to find a box score, from the archives of United Press International. Johnny Dawkins had a game-high 22 points (8-11 FG, 6-6 FT) for the Devils, while future NBA shot doctor Chip Engelland scored 12 points (5-7 FG, 2-2 FT). Meanwhile, Michael Chavez had 21 points and Michael Pitts added 19 for the Bears in the win.
Click to expand...
That game ended a western swing. They played and lost to the U of Colorado in Boulder. I had the pleasure of attending that game are meeting up with friends traveling with the team. Duke was raw and struggling but the quality was
 
I will be at the Cal game. Haas is a pretty cool gym. Daughter goes to Cal. Cal is actually halfway decent compared to years past. Will also be at the UNC game on Saturday, but I'll be cheering for the Bears in that one.

Thanks for supplying the box score from 1982, Brevity. My Grandfather was traveling with the team and stayed at the Fisherman's Wharf Sheraton, also with the team. I was 10 years old at the time, so my memory is blurry, but I could have sworn Duke was supposed to play Stanford on that trip, but they bagged out at the last minute for some reason, then Duke was able to get Cal on the schedule. Stanford seemed to be the higher marquee at the time. Losing to Cal seemed to be a pretty major disappointment to everyone involved. But, as a 10 year old, I was pretty psyched to be in the same vicinity of the team. I couldn't tell you who I met definitively, but I always go with Coach K and Johnny Dawkins. Thanks again for the memory, Brevity
 
kako said:
3 thoughts...

1. I will be there. I've waited so long to see Duke play a regular season game out here (the last time was last century!). Very excited. I know at least one other guy from DBR will be going. Who else? And anyone going to the Duke pre-game at the Cornerstone?

2. I watched Louisville play Cal in person. The Bears were not impressive. The Cards jumped out to a double digit lead early and never gave it up. It was up to 30 at one point, then Cal made a comeback to get it back in the teens but never got it down to single digits. That game was the first real matchup of Cal's season. They had beaten UCLA when UCLA was ranked, but it turns out that perhaps UCLA ain't great shakes anyway. Since the Ville game, they have beat Notre Dame by 1 at Hass, then lost to both ACC teams in Virginia. Nobody on Cal worries me significantly. I don't think there's a Jason Kidd and Lamont Murray waiting. Duke should dominate, but that's why they play the game. Some guy (maybe Bell?) may decide to channel those Cal guys of old and make it a game. Hopefully Duke comes out strong and put them away early.

3. I have seats right across from the Cal bench. It's kind of fun watching Madsen. He's one of those coaches that always seems to coach with a scowl on his face. Maybe it's just me, but it's somehow funnier given his height. I hope he makes me laugh a lot on Wednesday.

9F
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I will be there. I just saw the pregame event via your post. Registration already closed but I put myself on the waitlist.
 
On this West coast swing, according to Torvik, we have a 52.5% chance of winning both games, a 7.5% chance of losing both games and a 40% chance of a split. Seems about right.
 
ChrisP said:
Whoa, is this the latest tip time ever (EDT, that is) for my Blue Devils? I don't even remember a West regional tourney game tipping THIS late. Ugh, I'm too old for this! Guess I will be up early Thursday watching with my coffee in hand like many here.
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I usually go to bed at my regular time, thinking that I will watch it in the morning on DVR. Invariably, I wake up around halftime, check the score on my iPhone, then can’t resist getting up to watch the rest of the game. Depending on the result, I might go back to sleep after the game.
 
ChrisP said:
Whoa, is this the latest tip time ever (EDT, that is) for my Blue Devils? I don't even remember a West regional tourney game tipping THIS late. Ugh, I'm too old for this! Guess I will be up early Thursday watching with my coffee in hand like many here.
Click to expand...
Some of the Maui Invitational games tipped off at 11pm or later eastern time. Going back to the days of the Great Alaskan Shootout some tips were after midnight eastern time. Larger time zone differences in both of those cases of course.
 
dukelion said:
This is way past my bedtime but my body/mind will physically not let me go to sleep while a Duke game is happening.
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Strange. My body/mind will physically not let me stay awake until 1am regardless of what's happening. Given that I have to be awake before 5:30am on weekdays, I'm OK with that. Heck, I'm going to have enough trouble with the 8pm tipoff on the Thursday women's game!
 
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