OAKLAND, CALIF. ? Roy Williams said he agreed to bring his Kansas University basketball team to California for two reasons.

The fact one of those reasons didn’t pan out has him re-thinking his way of rewarding players with a trip home.

The No. 19 Jayhawks (6-3) face Cal (6-1) at the Arena in Oakland today in the opening game of the Pete Newell Challenge, a doubleheader honoring the man who coached Cal to a 1959 national championship and has become something of America’s world-wide basketball ambassador.

“I have a great deal of respect for coach Newell,” Williams said at Friday’s pre-Challenge press conference. “That’s the reason I’ve said I would come, I just didn’t know when.”

The “when” became crystallized as Williams decided to tie the trip to the Bay Area with a chance to bring forward Drew Gooden back to his roots.

But just as that was happening, Gooden surrendered his senior season at Kansas and entered last summer’s NBA Draft.

“You’ll never hear Kansas taking a player back to his home area his senior year again, ever,” Williams said. “This year we went to Oregon to take Aaron Miles and Michael Lee back home. They were sophomores. That’s when everybody will get their return home game the rest of my career.”

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Home cooking: This is not, strictly speaking, a home game for Cal, whose campus in Berkeley is located about 10 miles from the Arena in Oakland. But the Golden Bears are 4-0 previously in the Pete Newell Challenge, including a 78-71 upset of North Carolina in 1999 in front of a Cal-driven crowd of 19,657.

“I know Cal’s never lost in this event,” Williams said. “About 3,000 people have told me that since we got here.”

The Bears, whose lone defeat this season came in overtime to Georgia at the John Wooden Classic, feature three primary scorers, led by senior wings Joe Shipp (19.3 ppg) and Brian Wethers (14.9 ppg). Sophomore forward Amit Tamir of Israel is contributing 15.6 ppg and a team-best 8.3 rpg.

“In Shipp and Wethers and Tamir they have three really good players, and the other guys complement them well. We’re facing a very good club,” Williams said. “They’re going to guard us, they’re going to take a high-percentage shot. We have a chance to go out and win, if we play great. If we don’t play great, we’re not going to win.”

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The time machine: Kansas owns a 12-3 all-time series lead against Cal, including six straight wins. Williams is 4-0 against the Bears.

Cal’s most recent win in the series was 48 years ago Sunday, on Dec. 29, 1954. With Newell coaching the Bears and Phog Allen holding the reins for the Jayhawks, Cal won 65-62 at the Big Seven Holiday Tournament in Kansas City.

Newell, still sharp at age 87, nonetheless couldn’t remember the game. His more vivid recollection was of a 66-56 loss to top-ranked Kansas and sophomore center Wilt Chamberlain on Dec. 18, 1956. That was the Jayhawks’ most recent visit to the Bay Area.

“You get older and you remember the defeats and forget the wins,” Newell said. “When you’re younger, you think only of the wins.”

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Remembering Phog: Newell said he’s excited to have Kansas at his event because of the Jayhawks’ great tradition and the contributions the program has made to the game.

“Kansas University has so much to do with the growth of basketball,” Newell said. “Phog Allen was a real teacher back in Lawrence. He and Nat Holman founded the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches). Up to that point, college basketball was not very organized. Phog was the voice in basketball coaching because of his leadership. We’d like to have a Phog Allen around today, speaking for basketball.”

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Braun impressed: Cal coach Ben Braun believes the Jayhawks may have the best starting five in the country, and said Williams has developed the most effective transition offense anywhere.

“Roy’s teams really push you to the limit because their pace is probably as good as any in college basketball,” Braun said. “If you decide to run with them, you better run because they’re going to get up and down the floor, they’re going to get you back on your heels, spread you out and get the ball in the block.

“They don’t have any flaws, apparently, in their first five.”

KU’s bench is providing just 11.8 points per game, but Braun blames that on a lack of experience, not a lack of talent.

“We’re hoping that can be a factor (in Cal’s favor). But we’re bringing off freshmen, too,” he said. “To play a team like Kansas, you can’t rely on having your guys out there long periods of time. There’ll be some guys that’ll play some minutes for us off the bench. You just have to.”

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Hinrich fan: Asked which of KU’s players provides the toughest matchup, Braun suggested senior wing Kirk Hinrich.

“He is a tough matchup because he can make plays off the dribble, he’s a tremendous catch-and-shoot guy, plus he’s a perfectly good combo, 1 or 2,” Braun said. “Having him in their lineup gives them an extra ballhandler to run their break. He’s also a phenomenal wing. What a luxury for them to have Kirk Hinrich.”

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Tip-ins: The Cal-Kansas game will be shown to much of the country on ABC television . . . Stanford (7-3) will face Gonzaga (8-3) in today’s second game . . . Former Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote, who won the 1979 national championship with Magic Johnson, will be honored with the Pete Newell Challenge Career Achievement Award . . . Today’s event has an added Midwest flavor, with the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Oakland Raiders in the adjacent Network Associates Coliseum.