The No. 23 Virginia Cavaliers return home on Wednesday for a late-night matchup with the California Golden Bears inside John Paul Jones Arena.
After falling to Virginia Tech in a triple-overtime thriller last week, the ’Hoos bounced back to the tune of a dominant, 15-point road win at NC State on Saturday. Now looking to stack ACC wins, UVA welcomes a familiar face, Dai Dai Ames, back to Charlottesville.
Tipoff is set for 9 PM EST at JPJ with coverage on ACC Network. To get you set for the fourth-ever
meeting between UVA and Cal, here are two Golden Bears to know, one matchup to keep an eye on, and one prediction for Wednesday night’s action.
Two players to know
Dai Dai Ames
Virginia fans are already familiar with Dai Dai Ames, who spent the 2024-25 season with the ’Hoos. Ames’s scoring potential was evident during his time in Charlottesville, but as the go-to option in Berkeley, his numbers have exploded.
Ames is averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game (10th best in the ACC) while shooting nearly 45% from beyond the arc. He’s been efficient and consistent as Cal’s leading man, scoring in double figures in all but two games this season while flashing his nifty handle and knock-down outside jumper.
In one of the wackier sequences of the college basketball season thus far, Ames delivered his signature moment with Cal on Saturday, canning a go-ahead four-point play with five seconds left against Notre Dame. While the officiating on the play left plenty to be desired, Ames’s deadly combination of shiftiness and shooting prowess was on full display.
The 2024-25 season was one to forget for UVA fans, but Ames was one of the few bright spots. A dynamic offensive weapon who dropped a season-high 27 points last February in a game at Pitt, it was sad to see Ames hit the transfer portal this offseason. After a hopefully warm welcome back to JPJ on Wednesday night, he should be the focal point of Ryan Odom’s defensive scouting report.
Lee Dort
Beyond Ames, there’s a handful of Golden Bears who could hurt you on any given night, but Lee Dort presents a unique challenge on the glass.
A 6-foot-10 senior who spent two years at Vanderbilt before transferring to Cal prior to last season, Dort is a consistent starter for the first time in his college career. Though he’s not going to fill up the scoring column (he’s scored in double figures in just two of his last ten games), Dort is one of the conference’s best rebounders.
Pulling down 7.9 boards per game (11th most in the ACC), Dort boasts an elite 25.6% defensive rebounding percentage (38th in the nation), and he’s grabbed 10 or more rebounds on four occasions this season. An old-school big man, Dort has yet to attempt a three-pointer this season. But he swats just above a shot per game and provides a big body in the paint on both ends of the floor.
The ’Hoos grab offensive rebounds at an elite 40.5% clip, but Dort is just the type of player who can solidify the defensive glass. Getting a body on Dort should be a priority when shots go up on Wednesday night.
One matchup to watch
Virginia’s defense vs. Cal’s shooters
UVA’s three-point defense has been respectable, but its strength lies in the interior. Virginia’s opponents are shooting just 43.2% from inside the three-point line (the fourth-best interior defense in the country). Meanwhile, Cal can light it up from distance, yet struggles when attacking the basket.
The Golden Bears are shooting 38% from beyond the arc as a team (26th in the country), and 35.3% of their total points come on three-pointers. But when forced off the three-point line, Cal is 129th in the nation in two-point percentage (53%).
The Golden Bears want to beat you from the three-point line, so the key defensively for the ’Hoos will be forcing them into the paint. Virginia needs to limit catch-and-shoot opportunities and instead force Cal to put the ball on the floor and attack Johann Grünloh and Ugonna Onyenso (who are each inside the top 25 in the nation in blocks per game).
One prediction
Virginia is projected as an 11-point favorite (via KenPom), but the Golden Bears are a feisty squad with an impressive win over UCLA and a 13-2 overall record. The ’Hoos are 2-1 all-time against Cal, winning each of the first two matchups in 2015 and 2016, respectively. But the West Coast got the better of UVA last season, as Cal handed the ’Hoos a 75-61 loss in Berkeley.
Back on the East Coast, Virginia should be able to return the favor. I don’t think Cal quite has the firepower to hang with this Virginia team, and the Golden Bears haven’t ventured away from the Bay Area much this season (their only true road game was a 99-96 loss at Kansas State on November 13th).
With four-straight difficult quad-one matchups looming after this week’s pair of games against Cal and Stanford, it’s important that the ’Hoos take care of business. And I think they will. Look for Sam Lewis’s hot shooting to carry over from Raleigh, and the ’Hoos to feed Thijs de Ridder (who tied his season-low in shot attempts against the Wolfpack) early and often as Ryan Odom and company move to 2-1 in ACC play.
Virginia 82, California 74
