Photo by Neville E. Guard, USA Today
Cal Basketball: Bears to Face Oregon State in Wednesday Opener at Corvallis
Cal will face Pac-12 rival Oregon State in its men’s basketball season opener on Wednesday at Corvallis, Ore.
The game will be played as a non-conference event.
The Bears expected to play Colorado State in the first of two games this week at Gill Coliseum on the Oregon State campus. But the Rams had to withdraw because of two positive COVID-19 tests within their program.
OSU, which is hosting the four-team, two-day event, scrambled to find a team to complete the field and on short notice it was decided the Bears will take on the Beavers at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
"In a year when disruption is likely the norm, we had to adjust with our own COVID-19 shutdown earlier this month, and now with Colorado State's situation," Cal coach Mark Fox said. "It was not possible to replace Colorado State on such short notice and playing Oregon State proved to be the best solution because it's most important that we play when we can safely do so."
Cal and Oregon State split two games last season, each winning on its home floor.
Cal already was scheduled to play Thursday against Northwest University, an NAIA program from Washington. That game will tip off at 3 p.m.
Oregon State will move its game vs. Northwest from Wednesday to Friday.
Both games will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
The Bears have a quick turnaround in their preparation for the Beavers because they also must fit in travel on Tuesday afternoon to Oregon.
It’s much the same situation as faced the Cal football team when its opener at Arizona State, which had to cancel their Nov. 7 opener due to a COVID outbreak among the Sun Devils.
Cal quickly agreed to face UCLA at the Rose Bowl in a Sunday morning game, giving coach Justin Wilcox and his staff less than 48 hours to prepare. Basketball coach Mark Fox will have even a small window to get the Bears ready for the opponent they will face in their 2020-21 debut.
Cal opens its home schedule next Monday against Nicholls State.
The Bears then tip off Pac-12 play Dec. 3 at home against Arizona State before facing UCLA in Westwood on Dec. 6.
The Pac-12 on Tuesday announced the full conference schedule:
Cal’s only other scheduled non-conference games are Dec. 9 at Pepperdine and Dec. 13 against USF at Haas Pavilion.
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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
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