It isn’t just recruiting banter: Chico State’s men’s basketball program is truly a family. Exhibit A: Wildcats point guard Jay Flores passed equipment room technician Antone Curtis, moving into fifth place on the University’s career assist list, in a win against Pacifica on Dec. 29. Exhibit B: Flores needs three assists this weekend when the Wildcats host Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego to pass assistant coach Tim Haley to move into fourth. Haley and Curtis also have company on the career steals list where Flores is currently ranked sixth with 104. In his sites are Kenny Gleason (106), Haley (108) and Curtis (110).
The records are nice. But what Flores really desires is the success in the win column each of his successors had. Curtis led the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA Championship berths in 1992 and 1993 and Haley did the same in 2004 and 2005.
Off to one of the program’s best starts in years at 9-3 overall and 5-0 at home, Flores and the Wildcats are poised to make a similar run. The Wildcats are one of only three Chico State men’s basketball teams in the last 68 years to win at least nine of their first 12 games. The 1989-90 and 2009-10 Wildcats are the only teams to do so since 1942-43. They’re also the off to their best home start since Haley’s 2004-05 squad.
A pair of wins this weekend would mark the program’s first 7-0 home start since 1997-98 and just the third since reliable home-and-away records began being kept. The Wildcats take on perennial NCAA power Cal State San Bernardino Friday night and UC San Diego on Saturday.
Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 and will be aired locally on Newstalk 1290-AM KPAY with Mike Baca handling the play-by-play. The broadcast can also be accessed via the Wildcat Webcast link on the right side of this screen. Live stats are available there as well.
Chico State enters the game 3-3 and tied for sixth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), but the Wildcats are in position to make a move after starting the conference campaign with five straight road games. With four games still remaining in a five-game homestand that concludes with games against Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills next weekend, the Wildcats are just a game out of third place.
A top-four finish, something Chico State fans are hoping for, would net the Wildcats a home game in the opening round of the CCAA Championship Tournament.
But that is still a long, long way off. And there’s certainly no chance the Wildcats are looking beyond Cal State San Bernardino, a team that has handed them six straight losses. The Coyotes are the last remaining team that Wildcats’ fourth-year Head Coach Greg Clink (47-48 in his career) has still not beaten.
Chico State is just 6-24 all time against the Coyotes, including 4-12 at Acker Gym.
Cal State San Bernardino enters the contest in sole possession of second place in the conference at 5-1. The Coyotes are 6-3 overall.
UC San Diego, which will play at Cal State Stanislaus on Friday night, enters the weekend 5-6 overall but just 1-5 in the CCAA.
