# 2015–16 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The 2015–16 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was Cuonzo Martin's second year as head coach at California. The Golden Bears played their home games at Haas Pavilion as members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 23–11, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Oregon State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Utah. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Hawaii.

## Previous season

The 2014–15 Cal Golden Bears finished the season with an overall record of 18–15, and 7–11 in conference play. They finished in eighth place in the conference and entered the Pac-12 tournament winning their first-round game against Washington State before losing in the quarterfinals to Arizona.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dwight Tarwater | 1 | F | 6'6" | 230 | RS Senior | Knoxville, TN | Graduated |
| Christian Behrens | 14 | SF | 6'8" | 226 | RS Junior | Maple Valley, WA | Graduated |
| David Kravish | 45 | PF | 6'10" | 240 | Senior | Lee's Summit, MO | Graduated |

### 2015 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ivan Rabb PF | Oakland, CA | Bishop O'Dowd High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Apr 13, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Jaylen Brown SF | Marietta, GA | Joseph Wheeler High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | May 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Roman Davis SF | Los Angeles, CA | Windward School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jul 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: #3 Rivals: #7 247Sports: #7 ESPN: #5 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 California Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015. "California Golden Bears 2015 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Tour of Australia |||||||||
| Aug. 15* 9:00 pm | | at Victoria Select | W 100–63 | | 17 – Brown | 10 – Rabb | 7 – Chauca | Frankston Basketball Stadium Frankston, Victoria |
| Aug. 18* 2:00 am | | at Frankston Blues | W 84–76 | | 19 – Brown | 7 – Tied | 4 – Wallace | Frankston Basketball Stadium Frankston, Victoria |
| Aug. 20* 12:00 am | | at Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence | W 94–86 | | 19 – Bird | 12 – Rabb | 3 – Brown | AIS Arena Canberra, ACT |
| Aug. 21* 1:00 am | | at Illawarra Hawks | L 99–110 $^{OT}$ | | 24 – Mathews | 10 – Rabb | 6 – Wallace | WIN Entertainment Centre Wollongong, NSW |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov. 9* 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 14 | Carroll (MT) | W 93–58 | | 17 – Brown | 11 – Rabb | 9 – Singer | Haas Pavilion (8,613) Berkeley, CA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov. 13* 8:30 pm, P12N | No. 14 | Rice | W 97–65 | 1–0 | 20 – Wallace | 13 – Rabb | 8 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (10,530) Berkeley, CA |
| Nov. 16* 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 15 | UC Santa Barbara | W 85–67 | 2–0 | 24 – Wallace | 7 – Tied | 6 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (8,847) Berkeley, CA |
| Nov. 20* 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 15 | East Carolina Las Vegas Invitational | W 70–62 | 3–0 | 20 – Wallace | 13 – Rabb | 4 – Singer | Haas Pavilion (8,658) Berkeley, CA |
| Nov. 23* 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 14 | Sam Houston State Las Vegas Invitational | W 89–63 | 4–0 | 18 – Tied | 11 – Brown | 6 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (8,492) Berkeley, CA |
| Nov. 26* 9:00 pm, FS1 | No. 14 | vs. San Diego State Las Vegas Invitational Semifinals | L 58–72 | 4–1 | 18 – Rabb | 9 – Rabb | 3 – Wallace | Orleans Arena (N/A) Las Vegas, NV |
| Nov. 27* 5:00 pm, FS1 | No. 14 | vs. Richmond Las Vegas Invitational Consolation | L 90–94 | 4–2 | 27 – Brown | 7 – Rabb | 3 – Bird | Orleans Arena (N/A) Las Vegas, NV |
| Dec. 1* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Seattle | W 66–52 | 5–2 | 17 – Wallace | 11 – Wallace | 8 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (9,423) Berkeley, CA |
| Dec. 5* 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Wyoming | W 78–72 $^{OT}$ | 6–2 | 23 – Wallace | 6 – Tied | 6 – Wallace | Arena-Auditorium (6,568) Laramie, WY |
| Dec. 9* 8:00 pm, P12N | | Incarnate Word | W 74–62 | 7–2 | 15 – Bird | 11 – Rabb | 8 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (9,324) Berkeley, CA |
| Dec. 12* 12:30 pm, P12N | | Saint Mary's | W 63–59 | 8–2 | 15 – Rabb | 11 – Rabb | 3 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (10,074) Berkeley, CA |
| Dec. 19* 4:00 pm, P12N | | Coppin State | W 84–51 | 9–2 | 13 – Tied | 9 – Tied | 5 – Brown | Haas Pavilion (9,347) Berkeley, CA |
| Dec. 22* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at No. 5 Virginia | L 62–63 $^{OT}$ | 9–3 | 18 – Brown | 12 – Rabb | 2 – Tied | John Paul Jones Arena (13,265) Charlottesville, VA |
| Dec. 28* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Davidson | W 86–60 | 10–3 | 22 – Mathews | 11 – Rabb | 4 – Tied | Haas Pavilion (10,384) Berkeley, CA |
| Pac-12 regular season |||||||||
| Jan. 1 8:00 pm, P12N | | Colorado | W 79–65 | 11–3 (1–0) | 22 – Mathews | 11 – Brown | 8 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (9,964) Berkeley, CA |
| Jan. 3 4:30 pm, P12N | | No. 21 Utah | W 71–58 | 12–3 (2–0) | 19 – Rabb | 10 – Rabb | 6 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (10,188) Berkeley, CA |
| Jan. 6 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Oregon | L 65–68 | 12–4 (2–1) | 20 – Brown | 9 – Brown | 3 – Mathews | Matthew Knight Arena (6,948) Eugene, OR |
| Jan. 9 6:30 pm, P12N | | at Oregon State | L 71–77 | 12–5 (2–2) | 20 – Brown | 10 – Rabb | 6 – Wallace | Gill Coliseum (7,208) Corvallis, OR |
| Jan. 14 8:00 pm, FS1 | | at Stanford | L 71–77 | 12–6 (2–3) | 17 – Tied | 7 – Tied | 4 – Wallace | Maples Pavilion (5,023) Stanford, CA |
| Jan. 21 6:00 pm, FS1 | | Arizona State | W 75–70 | 13–6 (3–3) | 20 – Rabb | 8 – Tied | 8 – Singer | Haas Pavilion (9,096) Berkeley, CA |
| Jan. 23 5:30 pm, ESPN | | No. 12 Arizona | W 74–73 | 14–6 (4–3) | 28 – Mathews | 7 – Rooks | 7 – Brown | Haas Pavilion (11,858) Berkeley, CA |
| Jan. 27 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Utah | L 64–73 | 14–7 (4–4) | 27 – Brown | 12 – Rabb | 3 – Singer | Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,055) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Jan. 31 2:00 pm, FS1 | | at Colorado | L 62–70 | 14–8 (4–5) | 21 – Brown | 12 – Rooks | 2 – Tied | Coors Events Center (9,423) Boulder, CO |
| Feb. 6 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Stanford | W 76–61 | 15–8 (5–5) | 18 – Mathews | 12 – Rooks | 9 – Singer | Haas Pavilion (11,858) Berkeley, CA |
| Feb. 11 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 11 Oregon | W 83–63 | 16–8 (6–5) | 24 – Bird | 8 – Wallace | 11 – Singer | Haas Pavilion (10,628) Berkeley, CA |
| Feb. 13 3:30 pm, P12N | | Oregon State | W 83–71 | 17–8 (7–5) | 23 – Bird | 8 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Haas Pavilion (10,906) Berkeley, CA |
| Feb. 18 8:00 pm, FS1 | | at Washington | W 78–75 | 18–8 (8–5) | 23 – Brown | 14 – Tied | 3 – Wallace | Alaska Airlines Arena (7,530) Seattle, WA |
| Feb. 21 5:30 pm, ESPNU | | at Washington State | W 80–62 | 19–8 (9–5) | 17 – Wallace | 7 – Rooks | 3 – Tied | Beasley Coliseum (3,203) Pullman, WA |
| Feb. 25 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | UCLA | W 75–63 | 20–8 (10–5) | 20 – Bird | 10 – Tied | 6 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (11,858) Berkeley, CA |
| Feb. 28 5:00 pm, FS1 | | USC | W 87–65 | 21–8 (11–5) | 18 – Tied | 10 – Rabb | 6 – Wallace | Haas Pavilion (11,858) Berkeley, CA |
| Mar. 3 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 25 | at No. 18 Arizona | L 61–64 | 21–9 (11–6) | 15 – Rabb | 13 – Rabb | 3 – Singer | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, AZ |
| Mar. 5 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 25 | at Arizona State | W 68–65 | 22–9 (12–6) | 24 – Wallace | 6 – Brown | 5 – Wallace | Wells Fargo Arena (6,276) Tempe, AZ |
| Pac-12 tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 10 8:30 pm, FS1 | (3) No. 24 | vs. (6) Oregon State Quarterfinals | W 76–68 | 23–9 | 21 – Rabb | 15 – Rabb | 10 – Wallace | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, NV |
| Mar. 11 8:30 pm, FS1 | (3) No. 24 | vs. (2) No. 12 Utah Semifinals | L 78–82 $^{OT}$ | 23–10 | 26 – Wallace | 6 – Wallace | 5 – Brown | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 18* 11:00 am, TBS | (4 S) No. 23 | vs. (13 S) Hawaii First Round | L 66–77 | 23–11 | 23 – Mathews | 12 – Rabb | 2 – Tied | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,736) Spokane, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||||||

## Ranking movement

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes. NV = No votes received. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Post | Final |
| AP | 14 | 15 | 14 | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 23 | N/A |
| Coaches | 14 | 14 | 13 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 23 | RV |