Cal Wins on Dai Dai Ames' Four-Point Play

Dai Dai Ames' four-point play with 5.5 seconds left gave Cal a dramatic 72-71 victory over Notre Dame Friday night before a crowd of 5,158 at Haas Pavilion.

Cal (13-2, 1-1 ACC) trailed 71-68 when Notre Dame's Braeden Shrewsberry made two free throws with nine seconds left. Ames then hurried down court and threw up an off-balance three-pointer that went in while he was fouled by Notre Dame's Logan Imes.

The official immediately signaled the shot was good, but after about a minute, officials waved off the field goal, saying the shot came after the foul. But they got together again and after another minute they reversed the call again and awarded the basket, much to the crowd's delight. Ames then made the accompanying free throw with 5.5 seconds left to go ahead by one point.

Called it, reversed it, then called it again… how does that even happen? Micah Shrewsberry was about ready to explode.pic.twitter.com/2fIbnEF8Ly
— Vince Wolfram (@vincewolfram15) January 3, 2026

Ames chuckled when was asked about his reaction when the officials first waved off his three-pointer.

"I was going to be sick," he said.

And when the call was reversed?

"Back happy," he said, "Sad, then back happy."

When Shrewsberry missed a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer, Cal had its first ACC win.

Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry was not at all pleased with the officials' decision to change their minds and award the three-point bucket to Ames, and after the game he confronted officials at the exit and had to restrained by several assistant coaches. To say he was angry would be an understatement.

A wild scene following Cal’s 72-71 win over Notre Dame. Micah Shrewsberry loses his mind and tries to go after an official. pic.twitter.com/isIIQGnlvh
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreeman05_) January 3, 2026

Cal coach Mark Madsen nearly went ballistic when officials initially waved off Ames' three-pointer, but he was calm afterward.

Ames led Cal with 23 points while Braeden Shrewsberry had 21 for Notre Dame (10-5, 1-1 ACC).

But the most impressive statistic was that Cal committed just three turnovers, and Notre Dame did score a single point off Cal turnovers. Cal's two point guards, Justin Pippen and TT Carr, committed no turnovers.

Cal took its first lead since early in the game when Ames nailed a three-pointer to put the Bears on top 44-42 with 14:13 left in the second half.

The Bears held a seven-point lead with 7:22 remaining when Chris Bell scored on an alley-oop pass from Pippen. But the Irish reduced the Cal lead to one point at 63-62 when Cole Certa made a three-point shot at the 4:22 mark. And Notre Dame took a 65-63 lead when Certa hit another three-pointer with 3:09 to play.

Notre Dame increased the lead to three when Jalen Haralson made one free throw with 45.6 seconds left, and Certa made it a four-point game with one foul shot with 29 seconds left. Bell reduced the Cal deficit to two points with a bucket with 19.4 seconds remaining. but two free throws by Shrewsberry made it a four-point game with 16.5 seconds left. Ames hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one with 11.2 seconds to go. Then came Shrewsberry's two free throws with nine seconds left and Ames' four-point play..

Cal was just 3-for-17 on three-pointers in the first half, but Bears freshman TT Carr hit one from long range with two seconds left in the first half to cut the Notre Dame lead to 31-27 at halftime.

The Irish led by as many as 12 points in the first half at 25-13. Cal shot just 32.1% in the first half but did enough to get back in the game.

Cal committed just two turnovers in the first half, but Notre Dame had only one turnover in the first 20 minutes. Notre Dame helped Cal by going 2-for-8 from the foul line in the first half.

No Cal player scored more than six points in the first half, while Notre Dame was led by Jalen Haralson, who had 10 points, all coming in the first five minutes of the game.

NOTES

---Notre Dame played Friday’s game without leading scorer Markus Burton, who is averaging 18.5 points per game. It was the fifth straight game Burton has missed.

---Cal sixth man Rytis Petraitis missed his eighth straight game on Friday, and it’s unclear when or if he will return this season. He has not played since the November 25 game against UCLA.

---Dejuan Campbell missed his fourth straight game for Cal on Friday. He has missed 10 games this season. He was listed as “probable” for Friday’s game but did not play.

---Cal was a 4.5-point favorite for Friday’s game against Notre Dame, according to DraftKings, FanDuel and virtually every other betting site.

---Cal heads to Virginia for its first ACC road trip of the season next week. The Bears face 21st-ranked Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday, then play Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, next Saturday.

After that comes Cal’s most anticipated week of the season, when it hosts No. 6 Duke on Wednesday, January 14, and No. 12 North Carolina on Saturday, January 17.