Cal Bears guard Jovan Blackshear Jr (10) raises a hand to teammates against the NC State Wolfpack at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Wed Feb 5, 2025 (Cal Bears X)

By Daniel Dullum
Wednesday, February 5, 2025

California continued to enjoy success in Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball Wednesday, as the Golden Bears defeated North Carolina State 74-62 at Haas Pavilion.

Jovan Blacksher led Cal (12-11 overall, 5-7 ACC) with 18 points, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 14 points. Joshua Ola-Joseph added 13 points and Mady Sissoko pulled down 13 rebounds.

Andre Stojakovic returned to the Golden Bears lineup from illness and contributed six points. He hadn’t played since Jan. 18, also against NC State.

Cal led 34-30 at halftime. A key factor in the Golden Bears’ win was their defense, which held NC State to 2 of 12 shooting over the final 6 1/2 minutes. The Wolfpack (9-13 overall, 2-9 ACC) missed nine shots during that stretch.

A Rytis Petraitis 3-pointer put the Golden Bears up 47-46 with 13 minutes remaining in the second half. Petraitis later gave Cal 62-54 lead with under seven minutes to go. Cal put the finishing touches on the victory with a 10-0 run, giving them a 72-57 advantage with 90 seconds to play.

Marcus Hill led the Wolfpack with 20 points. NC State has lost seven consecutive games.

This Saturday, the Golden Bears host Wake Forest at 4 p.m., while NC State visits Stanford.