Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs California Golden Bears Prediction, 1/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs California Golden Bears

Date: Friday, January 2, 2026

Location: Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, CA

TV: ESPN2

Haas Pavilion is the site where the California Golden Bears (12-1) will go up against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-4) on Friday.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish stepped onto the hardwood against IPFW and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 72-69 in their last contest. In relation to fouls, the Fighting Irish ended up finishing with 18 while IPFW finished the game with 17 fouls. They also converted 11 of 35 shots from 3-point range. IPFW finished the contest at 76.5% at the free throw line by knocking down 13 of 17 tries. Furthermore, IPFW grabbed 25 rebounds (7 offensive, 18 defensive), but didn't notch a block. IPFW recorded 7 assists and had 7 steals in the matchup. When talking about defending, Notre Dame allowed the other team to shoot 40.7% from the field on 24 of 59 shooting. They also distributed 11 dimes in this matchup in addition to forcing 7 turnovers and having 5 steals. When talking about grabbing boards, they earned 37 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Fighting Irish converted 14 of 17 shots for a percentage of 82.4%. Notre Dame wrapped up the contest with a 40.0% field goal percentage (24 of 60) and converted 7 of their 27 shots from downtown.

Jalen Haralson is one player who was a factor in this matchup. He finished with 21 points on 6 out of 13 shooting. He played 27 mins and pulled down 9 boards. He shot 46.2% from the floor and dished out 4 dimes.

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Notre Dame will take the court with a mark of 9-4 so far this season. They currently have an average of 76.7 points per outing (208th in D-1) on 47.1% from the floor. The Fighting Irish are hitting 37.9% on three-point shots (118 of 311) and 71.1% from the free throw line. As a unit, Notre Dame is pulling down 37.7 boards per game and is sitting with 170 assists on the campaign, which is 260th in the country in terms of passing. They are turning it over 11.9 times per game and as a squad they commit 17.4 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Fighting Irish are forcing their opponents into 10.5 turnovers per game and they draw 17.5 fouls. They are ranked 136th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 162 surrendered this year. The Fighting Irish defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 41.7% (303 of 726) and they relinquish 30.4 rebounds per game as a squad. They give up 33.3% from 3-point land while they are 78th in D-1 in points per game from their opponents (68.4).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the California Golden Bears walked away with a victory by a final of 74-56 against Columbia. In regard to cleaning the glass, California permitted Columbia to pull down 27 overall (6 on the offensive glass). They went 23.5% from beyond the arc by going 4 out of 17 and finished the contest at 6 of 12 from the free throw line (50.0%). The Golden Bears allowed Columbia to make 23 out of their 55 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 41.8% in the game. When the final whistle blew, the Golden Bears walked away from this one shooting 24 out of 57 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.1%. In reference to shooting from 3-point land, California converted 7 of their 21 attempts (33.3%). They were able to knock down 19 of the free throws for a rate of 79.2%. Columbia was called for 19 personal fouls for the game which took the Golden Bears to the charity stripe for 24 tries. They also turned it over 6 times, while getting 7 steals for this contest. The Golden Bears corralled 25 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 32 in this game.

Dai Dai Ames ended up having an impact for the Golden Bears in the matchup. He buried 7 of 14 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and accounted for 1 rebound. He totaled 21 points in his 34 mins of playing time and had 2 assists for the contest.

California has a win-loss mark of 12-1 so far this season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Golden Bears are connecting on 47.5% from the floor, which is ranked 95th in the country. California has accounted for 1,080 points this year (83.1 per game) and they average 36.0 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 15.2 times per contest (147th in college hoops) and they turn it over 10.1 times per game. The Golden Bears are responsible for committing 16.9 personal fouls per contest and they hit 78.5% from the charity stripe.

The California defense gives up 30.8% from downtown (89 of 289) and their opponents are converting on 66.4% of their foul shots. They have allowed 13.4 dimes and 34.0 rebounds every game, which is ranked 191st and 160th in those categories. The Golden Bears are ranked 53rd in college in PPG given up with 66.7. They are able to force 13.3 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.7% from the floor (71st in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Notre Dame

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