SAN FRANCISCO – The Chico State men's basketball team knew it faced a challenging road trip this week. On the way back to Chico the Wildcats won't like the scenery in the rearview mirror.
 
San Francisco State beat the Wildcats 65–51 Saturday night, sending them to their second straight double-digit loss against two of their biggest rivals. Chico State fell 66–50 Friday at Sonoma State.
 
The first back-to-back conference losses since January 3 and 9, 2015 dropped Chico State–ranked No. 20 in the nation entering the weekend–to 18-5 overall and 11-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
 
The Wildcats, who have won only six of their 11 games away from Acker Gym (where they are 12-0), now face an uphill climb in their attempt to win their third straight CCAA title. UC San Diego leads the conference at 12-3. Sonoma State and San Francisco State are a half-game ahead of the fourth-place Wildcats at 11-3.
 
San Francisco State jumped out to a 4–0 lead and never trailed Saturday. The lead was 19–8 with 9:26 remaining in the first half.
 
Chico State thrice cut the lead to three, but each time San Francisco State answered the other end.
 
Then, a 13–0 San Francisco State second-half run over three minutes, capped by a Ryne Williams jumper with 6:40 remaining, put the game away.
 
Jalen McFerren led Chico State with 17 points. The junior from Oakland is now just one assist shy of becoming the 14^th player in program history to reach 200 assists, and needs one more three to reach the century mark, something only 14 Wildcats have done before him.
 
Corey Silverstrom scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Justin Briggs was the only Wildcat to score off the bench, finishing with nine points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Robert Duncan finished with five points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, becoming the 10^th player in program history to record his 250^th assist. Isaiah Ellis, the only other Wildcat to get on the scoreboard, finished with six rebounds and four assists.
 
The Wildcats will only play once next week. They host Cal State San Marcos Saturday night at 7:30.