# 2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The 2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Mike Montgomery's first season at California. The Golden Bears played their home games at Haas Pavilion and participated in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Golden Bears finished the season 22–11, 11–7 in Pac-10 play to finish in third place. They lost to USC in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament. They received an at–large bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 7 seed in the West Region. They were beaten by 10 seed Maryland in the first round.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 15, 2008* | | Pacific | W 68–56 | 1–0 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Nov 18, 2008* | | San Francisco | W 87–74 | 2–0 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Nov 20, 2008* | | Texas–Pan American | W 85–58 | 3–0 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Nov 24, 2008* | | North Carolina A&T | W 82–47 | 4–0 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Nov 28, 2008* | | at UNLV | W 73–55 | 5–0 | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada |
| Nov 29, 2008* | | vs. Florida State | L 77–80 | 5–1 | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada |
| Dec 3, 2008* | | DePaul | W 77–67 | 6–1 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Dec 7, 2008* | | at Missouri | L 66–93 | 6–2 | Mizzou Arena Columbia, Missouri |
| Dec 10, 2008* | | at Utah | W 72–69 | 7–2 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Dec 20, 2008* | | Nevada | W 75–66 | 8–2 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Dec 22, 2008* | | Colgate | W 83–48 | 9–2 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Dec 27, 2008* | | Dartmouth | W 98–62 | 10–2 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Dec 28, 2008* | | Portland | W 81–61 | 11–2 | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Pac-10 Regular Season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2009 | | Arizona | W 69–55 | 12–2 (1–0) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Jan 4, 2009 | | No. 17 Arizona State | W 81–71 | 13–2 (2–0) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Jan 8, 2009 | | at Washington State | W 57–50 | 14–2 (3–0) | Friel Court Pullman, Washington |
| Jan 10, 2009 | | at Washington | W 88–85 $^{3OT}$ | 15–2 (4–0) | Bank of America Arena Seattle, Washington |
| Jan 17, 2009 | No. 22 | at Stanford | L 69–75 | 15–3 (4–1) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, California |
| Jan 22, 2009 | | Oregon State | L 65–69 | 15–4 (4–2) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Jan 24, 2009 | | Oregon | W 76–69 | 16–4 (5–2) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Jan 29, 2009 | | at No. 17 UCLA | L 66–81 | 16–5 (5–3) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 31, 2009 | | at USC | L 62–73 | 16–6 (5–4) | Galen Center Los Angeles, California |
| Feb 5, 2009 | | No. 22 Washington | W 86–71 | 17–6 (6–4) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Feb 7, 2009 | | Washington State | W 71–63 | 18–6 (7–4) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Feb 14, 2009 | | Stanford | W 82–75 | 19–6 (8–4) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Feb 19, 2009 | | at Oregon | W 78–60 | 20–6 (9–4) | McArthur Court Eugene, Oregon |
| Feb 21, 2009 | | at Oregon State | L 54–65 | 20–7 (9–5) | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| Feb 26, 2009 | | USC | W 81–78 $^{OT}$ | 21–7 (10–5) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Feb 28, 2009 | | No. 22 UCLA | L 68–72 | 21–8 (10–6) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Mar 5, 2009 | | at Arizona | W 83–77 | 22–8 (11–6) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Mar 7, 2009 | | at No. 21 Arizona State | L 66–83 | 22–9 (11–7) | Wells Fargo Arena Tempe, Arizona |
| Pac-10 tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 2009* | (3) | vs. (6) USC Quarterfinals | L 75–79 | 22–10 | Staples Center Los Angeles, California |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 19, 2009* | (7 W) | vs. (10 W) Maryland First Round | L 71–84 | 22–11 | Sprint Center Kansas City, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific. ||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 22 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 22 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | |