Cal rallied from 10 points down with less than eight minutes left and beat LMU 60-59 in their exhibition opener when transfer Nojus Indrusaitis buried a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left on Friday in Los Angeles.
The Bears had missed 20 of their first 21 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and Indrusaitis was 0 for 3 before hitting the game-winner. The junior guard shot 39 percent from deep at Pitt last year.
LMU’s Mazi Mosley missed a shot at the rim as the final horn sounded.
Cal coach Mark Madsen, beginning his fourth season, led the Bears to 22 victories last season, their most since 2015-16, when they were 23-11 and most recently played in the NCAA tournament.
The Bears were picked 15th in this year’s ACC media poll. LMU landed sixth in the West Coast Conference coaches poll after going 15-17 a year ago.
Madsen opened with an lineup that featured returning starting center Lee Dort, forward Sammie Yeanay and three transfers — point guard Jordan Ross (Georgia), forward Jake Wilkins (Georgia) and shooting guard Amier Ali (Mississippi State).
Michael Cooper, a sophomore transfer from Wright State, led the Bears with 12 points. Wilkins and Dort each scored 11 points, although Dort fouled out with 3:22 left.
Indrusaitis added nine points and Ross contributed seven points and six assists.
The Bears were down 49-39 with 7:42 left before mounting their comeback. Wilkins — the son of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins — gave Cal a 53-52 lead when he converted a layup off a feed from Ross and made the ensuing free throw with 3:10 to play.
The Lions crept back and took a 59-57 lead when Jevon Porter grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and All Wright made a layup with 32 seconds left.
Cal finished the night at 32 percent (19 for 59) from the field, including 2 for 22 from 3-point distance. The Bears were 20 for 23 from the foul line. They cashed 18 LMU turnovers into 19 points.
Wright scored 14 points to lead the Lions, who shot 44.7 percent (21 for 47) but were barely better than Cal from deep, connecting on just 4 of 17. They also missed 10 of their 23 free throws.
The Bears trailed by as many as seven points with 2 minutes left in the first half before closing to within 31-27 at the break.
Cal plays its final exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Oregon State. The Bears open the regular season at home against Adams State on Monday, Nov. 2.
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