The students are back to school just in time for two of Chico State’s biggest men’s basketball games of the year. It’s part time at Acker Gym. But for the Wildcats to have their cake and eat it too would be an awesome accomplishment against two of the top teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).

Cal State Dominguez Hills is in town Friday night. The Toros are nation’s fourth-ranked team and ranked No. 1 in the first West Region rankings of the season released this week. Cal State L.A. visits Saturday. Both games tip off at approximately 7:30 PM, following the women’s games.

The Wildcats enter the weekend 10-6 overall and 6-6 in the CCAA. They’re in seventh place in the conference standings, but only two games out of fourth. Cal State Dominguez Hills is alone atop the conference and Cal State L.A. is in fifth, a game ahead of Chico State, so this is an opportunity for the Wildcats to make a big move

The top four teams in the CCAA standings at the close of the regular season will have earned the right to host a first-round CCAA Championship Tournament game. The top eight teams received bids to the tournament, the winner of which gains an automatic bid in the NCAA Championship Tournament.

Cal State Dominguez Hills has won 10 in a row, including a 76-65 home win against the Wildcats on Dec. 31, to move to 15-1 overall and 11-1 in the CCAA. The Toros are doing it with defense. They rank first in the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.1) and third in scoring defense (57.6). They’re not too shabby on offense either, ranking first in the CCAA in 3-point percentage and third in overall field goal percentage. However, in their one loss this season against Cal State San Bernardino, they were just 1-of-14 from beyond the arc. They hit 5-of-8 in their win against the Wildcats.

In that game, Sean Park recorded career highs of 23 points and nine rebounds, but the Wildcats could not sustain enough offense against the Toros. Damario Sims was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 14 points. Terence Pellum contributed eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Zareh Zargaryan and Marcquentince Davis finished with 16 points apiece for Cal State Dominguez Hills, which made its final 10 free throws and last four field goal attempts (including three 3-pointers) to salt the game away.

The Toros limited Chico State to 29-percent shooting in the second stanza and 35 percent for the game. An 18-6 run gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 20-15. It was a costly stint of minutes, however, as the already injury-depleted ’Cats lost Jay Flores to a lost tooth and Chris Sharp to a foot injury. Even before that, Park and Roderick Hawkins were playing in pain. The Wildcats tasted the lead for the last time when Sims sank a 3-pointer with 18 minutes left to make it 42-41, but 12 of their next 13 shots were off the mark and the Toros went on a 10-2 run during that eight-minute drought to take control 51-44.

Cal State L.A., which handed the Wildcats a 71-62 loss on Dec. 30 in L.A., has stumbled a bit of late, losing three of its last four games. That may be tied to the loss of USC transfer Ryan Wetherell to injury. He started the team’s first 10 games and was averaging 10.2 points. They’ve averaged just 59.5 points per 40 minutes during the four-game stretch in which their only win was in come-from-behind fashion at home against Cal State East Bay.

The Wildcats started hot earlier this season against the Golden Eagles, flushing four of their first five 3-pointers on the way to a double-digit first half lead. Chico State led by as many as 12 and had a 10-point advantage with 2:47 to go in the first half before Cal State L.A. clamped down. The Golden Eagles outscored the Wildcats 49-29 from that point on, spurred by a 9-0 run spanning the end of the first half and beginning of the second.

Wildcats point guard Jay Flores finished with 12 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals while turning the ball over just once. Damario Sims finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Terence Pellum played only 10 minutes due to foul trouble. Meanwhile, David Norris of Cal State L.A. stole the show. The 6-foot-6 senior transfer from Sacramento State finished with 19 points and 20 rebounds.

In order for the Wildcats to exact some revenge, they’ll need Roderick Hawkins, Park, Jay Flores and Terence Pellum to stay hot. Hawkins is averaging 17.0 points and 7.2 rebounds over the last six games, Park has contributed 15.6 points and 5.0 rebounds a game over his last seven, Flores averaged 16.5 points, five assists, and 2.5 steals per game while hitting 7-of-15 shots from beyond the arc last weekend to net Wildcat of the Week honors, and Pellum has notched 11.8 points and 8.3 boards over his last four games.

Hawkins is now only two rebounds shy of becoming the 11th player in Chico State history to grab 500, and with four more he will move past David Fluker (1990-92) into 10th on Chico State’s career rebounds list. He is also closing in on becoming the 11th Wildcat ever to reach 1,000 career points. His current total is 896. If he reaches both milestones, Hawkins will join Aaron Martella (1,079 points and 688 rebounds from 1990-94) and Jim Schreiner (1,137 points and 597 rebounds from 1974-78) as the third Wildcat to accomplish the feat. Hawkins already already ranks fifth in career free throws made, 11 behind former teammate Andy Bocian (2005-09) for fourth.

Park’s 23 points at Dominguez Hills is the highest scoring output by a Wildcats freshman since Justin Argenal netted 24 on Feb. 25, 2006. If Park can keep his 12.4 scoring average above Argenal’s 10.6, he’ll have the highest average for a Wildcats freshman since George Maderos pumped in 16 per game in 1951-52.

Flores ranks fifth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio and 22nd in the nation in assists per game and first in the CCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio and 23rd in assists per game. He leads the CCAA in both categories.

Pellum, second in the CCAA in blocked shots and 62nd in the nation, already ranks sixth in career blocked shots at Chico State with 50. He needs four more to move past Aaron Martella and Andre Speech into fourth.

They’ll also need the dynamic Damario Sims to break out of a recent scoring slump and a nice contribution from their bench, which has struggled since Park moved into the starting lineup six games ago.

The Wildcats have shown the ability to beat each of these teams as recently as last season. They shocked the red-hot Toros in the opening round of last season’s CCAA Championship Tournament, ending their promising season prematurely. And they had won three in a row against the Golden Eagles before losing earlier this season in L.A. Doing it again this weekend would be the icing on the cake.

Fans can follow every Chico State basketball game live on ESPN 101.7 FM and 1340 AM locally and online through the Wildcat Athletics website, with Mike Baca and Mike Wessels providing the play-by-play.

WEEKEND GAME NOTES