LA JOLLA—This Chico State men's basketball program is full of legends. They are men who have overcome the odds, injuries, and a challenging schedule to make the biggest year-to-year improvement in the storied history of the program. This weekend the Wildcats, 23-6 one season after finishing 9-14 and in 10th place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), will try to accomplish something else no Chico State team has done: come home with the CCAA Tournament banner.
 
The Wildcats advanced to the CCAA Tournament semifinals with a 75-73 overtime victory against Stanislaus State Tuesday night in Acker Gym. They face Cal Poly Pomona Friday at noon in La Jolla on the campus of UC San Diego for a spot in the final. The game will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 KPAY Sports Radio and streamed on ESPN3. Links to listen and follow online can be found at www.chicowildcats.com.
 
It is not as though the program has lacked legendary players and legendary teams. It is chalked full of them, from George Maderos, whose jersey hangs near the entrance to Acker Gym, to Michael Bethea Jr., a new dad grinding it out in the NBA's G League.
 
The list continues to grow, and this season, a handful more names have been added to the list. Thursday morning, three of them—Justin Briggs, Malik Duffy, and Isaiah Brooks—were named All-CCAA following a vote of the conference's coaches. Duffy and Briggs were selected for First Team honors and Briggs was named the CCAA's Defensive Player of the Year. Brooks was named to the Second Team.
 
Briggs is the winner of the conference's inaugural Defensive Player of the Year award after breaking Chico State's career blocked shots record by racking up 52 rejections this season for the nation's 33rd-ranked scoring defense. Briggs averages 11.9 points and 7.7 rebounds and is shooting 62 percent from the field. The senior center was honorable mention All-CCAA in both 2016–17 (while helping lead the Wildcats to the West Region title)and 2017–18. He missed the final 10 games of last season with an injury. Briggs recently became the fourth player in program history to reach 700 career rebounds and the 20th player to reach the 1,000-point milestone. His 174 blocked shots are 21 more than any Wildcat racked up before him.
Duffy, a junior, has been arguably the CCAA's deadliest shooter this season, knocking down 47-percent (59-126) of his 3-point shots, 54-percent from the field, and 83 percent from the free throw line. After earning Second Team All-CCAA honors last season, he has raised his scoring average to a team-high 12.8 points and pulled down 5.9 rebounds per contest.
 
Duffy's 3-point percentage ranks third in the program's single-season history among those who have made more than 55 threes in a season.
 
Brooks, arguably the team's MVP to this point and the engine and tends to make the Wildcats go, is averaging 10.8 points, 3.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. The junior and 2018–19 CCAA honorable mention selection has also knocked down 55 threes. Brooks ranks ninth in school history with a career .804 free throw percentage and 13th with 238 career assists.
 
This is far from a three-man show, however. All five Chico State starters—Kevin Warren and Calvin Geraci are the other two—average between 10.8 and 12.8 points per game, and the Wildcats' bench has keyed a number of victories.
 
They'll need everyone at their best to knock off a Cal Poly Pomona team that beat the Wildcats twice this season: 69-67 on December 7 in Chico and 73-57 on February 13 in Pomona.
 
The Wildcats have reached the CCAA Tournament final four times, each season from 2012 to 2015, but have never won it. They are 4-3 all time in CCAA Tournament semifinals. And 1-4 against Cal Poly Pomona in the postseason, including 1-3 in CCAA Tournament play. But that one win came in the 2014 conference tournament semifinals.
 
The game also has NCAA Championship Tournament implications. Cal Poly Pomona enters the weekend ranked No. 3 in the West Region. Chico State is No. 4. The Champions of this weekend's CCAA, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and Pacific West Conference Tournament finals will earn the region's three automatic bids. Five at-large teams will be selected to join them to vie for the West Region title and spot in the Elite Eight.
 
Chico State fans are invited to join the team, coaching staff, and administration for an NCAA Selection Show viewing party at The Madison Bear Garden Sunday night from 6:30-8. The selection show is scheduled to begin at 7:30.