California Baptist @ California preview

After winning eight games in each of the past two seasons, California is showing some promising signs under new coach Mark Fox. The Bears have opened with two straight wins but need to be careful not to overlook a dangerous California Baptist squad when the teams meet Friday in Berkeley.

Matt Bradley scored 23 points, Kareem South added 14 and Joel Brown had 12 in Tuesday’s 79-75 overtime win over UNLV as the Bears moved two games over .500 for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The 6-4, 220-pound Bradley is averaging 24 points on 60 percent shooting for the Bears, who began the season with an 87-71 victory over Pepperdine. Fox has made defense a point of emphasis for the rebuilding Bears and is receiving an early boost from junior wing Juhwan Harris-Dyson, who struggled last season but had five points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots in 21 minutes off the bench against UNLV. “He’s just a sparkplug,” South told reporters. “Came out, got deflections, got a dunk. He was able to ignite our defense, which turned to offense. Juhwan was a great help to us.”

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT CBU (2-1): Picked to finish fifth in the Western Athletic Conference, the Lancers opened with victories over Jackson State and Cal Lutheran before losing 67-54 to Texas on Tuesday. Junior guard Milan Acquaah averages 18.3 points and 5.7 rebounds and scored a team-high 17 points against the Longhorns. The Lancers’ frontcourt is led by 6-7 senior forward De’jon Davis, who recorded back-to-back double-doubles to open the season and had seven points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes against Texas.

ABOUT CAL (2-0): Brown shot 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and scored 12 points in the win over UNLV while sophomore forward Andre Kelly added nine points and three rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench. Senior point guard Paris Austin has been battling a minor injury and was limited to 10 points and two assists in 23 minutes against the Rebels. Fox continues to be impressed by South, a grad transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi who has secured his spot in the starting lineup while averaging 14 points through the first two games.

TIP-INS

1. Cal continues play in the 2K Empire Classic on Monday at home against Prairie View A&M.

2. CBU is averaging 11.3 made 3-pointers through its first three contests.

3. Cal is averaging 83 points on 54.1 percent shooting through two games.

PREDICTION: Cal 79, CBU 68