The Chico State men's basketball program's great expectations have been conceived out of the success of the past six seasons. The Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament six times in a row, winning five titles in the process—three California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) titles and two NCAA Tournament West Regionals.
 
The trophies make it easy to forget that each of those six seasons included ups and downs. The program's players and fans would do well to remember that right now. The 9-5 Wildcats have lost three in a row to drop to 9-5 overall and 6-4 in the CCAA heading into a three-game homestand that begins Thursday night against Cal State San Bernardino and continues Saturday night against Cal Poly Pomona.
 
The 2011-12 CCAA Champion Wildcats started the conference campaign by dropping two in a row and three of five. The 2012-13 team lost three straight before earning an NCAA Tournament berth. The 2013-14 squad dropped two in a row before winning the West for the first time. The 2014-15 CCAA Championship 'Cats lost five of nine during one stretch. The 2015-16 CCAA Championship team lost three straight. And last year's Elite Eight run including three losses in a row. 
 
Head Coach Greg Clink, who has been at the helm for all of those ups and downs, has had one major theme for his team this week in their search to cure what ails them: "Play harder."
 
"There are two or three more levels we can reach in terms of effort," said Clink. "It's not that they are being lazy. It's just that there's another notch, or two, or three they can take it up. They need to dig deep to find it."
 
That search continues Thursday against Cal State San Bernardino, a team the Wildcats beat 83–64 on Dec. 3 in San Bernardino. Jalen McFerren finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and matched his career high with eight assists. Isaiah Ellis contributed 17 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. And Corey Silverstrom finished with 14 points.
 
Cal State San Bernardino is 6-8 overall and 4-6 overall. The Coyotes, whose only home loss came against Chico State, have struggled away from home. They are 0-6 on the road and 1-1 on a neutral floor. Jacardo Hawkins is the team's leader in scoring (13.1 points per game) and rebounding (7.2). The senior forward got into foul trouble in the the first meeting and played a season-low 12 minutes, finishing with just four points and two rebounds.
 
The Wildcats face first-place Cal Poly Pomona Saturday night for the first time since the Broncos' 83–79 double-overtime victory on Dec. 1 in Pomona. Chico State led for nearly the entirety of regulation and was up by five with under three minutes to play in the game, but could not close it out.
 
The Wildcats put together a comeback of their own to force the second overtime, rallying from seven points down over the final 1:12. McFerren's four-point play sparked the comeback, and his offensive rebound and put-back with two seconds left tied it and forced the second overtime.
 
Silverstrom finished with 23 points to lead Chico State. Malik Duffy finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. McFerren and Nate Ambrosini scored 11 points apiece. Isaiah Ellis finished with 10 points and eight rebounds despite playing just 23 minutes before fouling out.
 
William Christmas and Jordan Ogundiran paced Cal Poly Pomona with 31 and 26 points, respectively. The Broncos, 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the CCAA, will be at Humboldt State Thursday night. They enter that game ranked 25th in the nation.
 
Ogundiran is averaging 16.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. Christmas is averaging 13.6 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds.
 
Silverstrom is Chico State's leading scorer at 14.4 points per game. McFerren (12.8) and Ellis (11.9) are also averaging in double figures.
 
McFerren needs 35 more points to join his fellow seniors in the program's 1,000-point club. He's also only eight rebounds shy of becoming just the 14^th player in the history of the program (and first point guard) with 500 rebounds. If he reaches those two milestones, McFerren will be the only player in the history of the program with career totals topping 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, and 100 steals.
 
Tipoff for both games is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The games will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 KPAY. Links to streaming audio, streaming video, and live stats are available on the top-left corner of this advance, on the men's basketball schedule page, and in the calendar section of our homepage.