Tuesday, November 18th, 10:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Haas Pavilion (2,600) -- Berkeley, California. Television: None. Home Record: San Francisco 0-0, California 1-0. Away Record: San Francisco 1-0, California 0-0. Neutral Record: San Francisco 1-0, California 0-0. Conference Record: San Francisco 0-0, California 0-0. Series Record: California leads, 45-30.

GAME NOTES: A pair of Bay Area rivals square off on the hardwood tonight in Berkeley, as the California Golden Bears are set to host the San Francisco Dons at Haas Pavilion. Cal started its 2008-09 campaign on a positive note last Saturday with a hard fought 68-56 victory over Pacific, ushering in the Mike Montgomery coaching era. As for San Francisco, the Dons have begun the season with two straight wins, notching victories against Hawaii and, most recently, Texas State on Sunday. The Texas State victory clinched the 2008 Verizon Wireless Tip-Off Classic for the Dons, who won the tournament title as the only unbeaten team in the field. Cal leads the all-time series here by a 45-30 margin.

San Francisco held Texas State to just 38.4 percent from the floor during Sunday's victory, while the Dons shot at a solid 49.1 percent clip themselves. The Dons used a 27-of-35 effort at the charity stripe to overcome a game-high 24 turnovers and featured four players with double figures. Dior Lowhorn led the charge with a game-high 26 points to go with 13 rebounds, followed by Kwame Vaughn, who tallied 17 points off the bench. Manny Quezada contributed 15 points and dished out six assists for San Francisco, while Blake Wallace added 12 points. Dior leads the Dons in scoring so far in the young season, with an average of 21.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Wallace and Vaughn have also been solid in the early-going, posting 16.5 ppg and 13.5 ppg, respectively. Quezada also has himself a double-digit average, tallying 10.5 ppg.

The Golden Bears used free throws to their advantage during last Saturday's win, converting 22-of-27 from the charity stripe en route to a 12-point victory over Pacific. Cal shot at a 41.3 percent clip from the floor, and buried 8-of-15 from beyond the arc in the win. Jerome Randle posted a game- high 24 points to lead the Golden Bears, and Patrick Christopher tallied 18 points. Theo Robertson added 10 points in the Cal victory. The Golden Bears have a great deal of returning talent in their backcourt this season, beginning with Christopher and Randle. Christopher averaged 15.2 ppg last season, and the 6-5 junior figures to anchor the Cal offense again in 2008-09. As for Randle, the 5-10 guard tallied 11.8 ppg to go with 3.7 apg a year ago, and along with Jamal Boykin, will be asked to take his game to the next level.

The Dons have plenty of offensive firepower, so look to San Francisco to steal a road win here. The Golden Bears wont roll over at home, but a questionable frontcourt may prove too much of a liability here.

Predicted Outcome

San Francisco 81, California 72