CHICO – By the time they graduate, most Chico State men’s basketball players know Highway 99 as well as they do the team’s press break offense or zone defense. They’re used to the slow-moving tractors and the thick banks of fog. They know that Yuba City, by some crazy bit of fortune, has two restaurants that Chico doesn’t – Red Robin and Wienerschnitzel. And they can tell you how long it’s going to take to get to the Sacramento Airport if you tell them what time of day they’ll be leaving.

For Chico State athletes, the road to more than half of their away games starts with a trip south on Highway 99. Until this year, the highlights of those trips have tended to be a stop at one of those fine eating establishments. Since joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) beginning in the 1998-99 season, the Wildcats have gone 37-127 away from their home court, Acker Gymnasium.

But the fog may be lifting.

The Wildcats have won their first four road games of the 2009-10 season, and they’ll face UC San Diego Thursday in La Jolla with a chance to win five straight road games for the first time since the 1992-93 season. If they win that game, the Wildcats will have a chance to match the longest road winning streak in the recorded history of the program (The 1982-83 and 1990-91 teams each won six in a row on the road.) on Saturday night in Hayward against Cal State East Bay.

Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 pm and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio (101.7 FM or 1340 AM) or online via the Wildcat Webcast link on the Chico State Athletics Web site. Mike Baca will provide the play-by-play. Live stats of Thursday night's game will also be available. Click here for the link or go to www.ucsdtritons.com.

Thursday’s game against UC San Diego will mark the start of a five-game, 13-day road odyssey for the Wildcats. They’ll play at Humboldt State on Jan. 14, Sonoma State on Jan. 16, and Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 19. And if they can avoid a total meltdown, they’ll be in prime position to make a run at a postseason berth with nine of their final 13 games at home.

Chico State is off to its best overall start since the 1992-93 season at 7-2, and with a win Thursday, could boast its first 4-1 start to conference play (4-1) since joining the CCAA.  The Wildcats are one of the CCAA’s five one-loss teams. Humboldt State is 5-1 and Cal State L.A., Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino, and the Wildcats are each 3-1.

If the Wildcats are to win Thursday, it’s likely that junior guard Zach Graves will play a key role. Graves torched UC San Diego for a career-high 23 points (21 in the second half) in Chico State’s thrilling 60-57 win in last season’s finale. In two games against the Tritons, Graves averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while hitting 15-of-21 shots.

The Tritons have struggled this year, falling to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the CCAA following losses at Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills last weekend. They rank 266th out of 270 Division II teams in the nation in scoring at 56.4 points per game, and 268th in field goal percentage at 36.8. But UC San Diego has been stingy defensively, allowing just 62.6 points per game, and they’ve done a good job of taking away one of Chico State’s biggest weapons – the 3-point shot – having allowing the opposition to make just 25.7 percent of their 3-point attempts.

Cal State East Bay won the CalPac Conference title in their final season at the NCAA Division III level last season, but Head Coach Will Biggs and his Pioneers team have found the transition to Division II to be a bit challenging. After a promising 2-0 start, they’ve dropped seven of their last eight games to fall to 3-7 overall and 0-5 in the CCAA. If the Pioneers do not win Thursday against Cal State Stanislaus, they’ll be playing for a significant milestone on Saturday. Biggs’ current career win total sits at 199.

The guard tandem of Jon Baird and Jay Flores has carried the Wildcats during their hot start. Baird ranks eighth in the nation and leads the CCAA with 3.4 threes per game, and his scoring average has risen in each of the first three months of the season from 10.5 in November to 15.4 in December, and now 18.5 through two games in January.

Flores leads the CCAA in assists per game, assist-to-turnover ratio, and 3-point percentage and also ranks third in free throw percentage and fifth in 3-pointers made. He put together the top two scoring nights of his collegiate career last weekend, scoring 21 against Cal State San Bernardino and then 18 against Cal Poly Pomona.

Terence Pellum, who leads the CCAA in blocked shots at 1.1 per game, is the team’s second leading scorer at 14.2 points per game. Rod Hawkins is averaging 9.2 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Graves, meanwhile, has come on strong of late, averaging 8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and one steal per game over the last five.

They will likely make up the team’s starting five this weekend.