SAN BERNARDINO—Here's something that can never be canceled: Chico State men's basketball is the 2022 NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional Champion.
Two years and two days after flying home from San Diego—denied a chance to compete in the 2020 NCAA Tournament due to COVID-19 and choosing to remain Wildcats when the 2020-21 campaign was canceled as well—the Wildcats rebounded in an Elite way with three wins in four days at Coussoulis Arena at Cal State San Bernardino, culminating in Monday night's dominant 70-52 victory against Alaska in the West Regional championship game.
With their third regional crown in their last seven full seasons of competition, the Wildcats advance to the Elite Eight, which takes place March 22–26 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
"We kind of spoke this into existence. Me and Malik (Duffy) have been talking about this for years," said senior Kevin Warren. "I haven't had a full season yet from start to finish since I started here. I knew coming back this was the ultimate goal. There was nothing else I was worried about. Just grinding day to day. I knew that this was our ultimate goal and something I told Coach Clink when I came here, I wanted to do.
"This is a great moment for us."
No doubt the speaking helped, but the Wildcats' defense (which Warren helped anchor) deserved a lot of the credit as well. Chico State held the Nanooks to season lows in scoring and shooting percentage (34%), and West Region's leading scorer, Shadeed Shabazz (who torched the Nanooks' first two opponents of the regional for 35 and 28 points), to six points on 16 shots.
"We just felt our defense was going to wear them down," Warren said. "Joshua Hamilton and I took pride in trying to make it hard for (Shaabazz). We knew it was going to be a tough task, but we knew were up for the challenge."
Duffy led the offense with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Warren and Colby Orr scored 12 points apiece. Orr, who scored a season-high 26 in the Wildcats' semifinal victory against Cal State San Bernardino, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Isaiah Brooks, who finished with nine points, five assists, five rebounds, and two steals, joined Orr on the All-Tournament team.
The 22-4 Wildcats have now won six straight NCAA Tournament regional tilts, and nine of their past 11. Prior to Head Coach Greg Clink's arrival, they had won only one NCAA Tournament game—in 1958. They've also won six straight NCAA Tournament games at Coussoulis Arena and 12 of their last 13 overall in San Bernardino.
Alaska's amazing run of seven straight postseason victories after earning the No. 10 seed for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament and running the table to earn the conference's NCAA Tournament AQ ended at 14-15 at the hands of what Nanooks Head Coach Greg Sparling called "probably the best we've seen all season long."
"They don't crack on defense," he said. "I think that's what's carrying them, and also their leadership."
It was a rollercoaster of a first half as Chico State opened with a 9-4 lead and then saw Alaska answer with 15 straight points over the next three minutes to go up 19-9. It was pretty much all Chico State after that. The Nanooks did not score for the next 9:19 and the Wildcats went on a 22-2 run before closing the half with a 33-23 advantage. Brennan Wheeler sparked the run with his best stint of minutes as a Wildcat, scoring eight points and providing great defense.
The Wildcats worked as a team, on that end, holding Shabazz to a single field goal in eight attempts thanks in part to two blocked shots. He finished the half with four points and two turnovers. He also picked up his third foul with 2:16 left in the half.
"It was really about getting back and guarding him with two to three guys when he put the ball on the floor," Wildcats Head Coach Greg Clink explained.
Often one to credit the team's defense for getting its offense going, Clink credited the offense with the better defensive effort following Alaska's big run Monday night.
"We weren't executing our offense like we want to. It took us about 13 minutes to figure it out. But once we figured it out, I really felt like that was a spark for us," Clink said. "The defense picked up and we got some energy defensively. When we started buying into the game plan offensively, that's when we started making it hard on them."
Brooks fed Kelvin Wright Jr. for a dunk for the first bucket of the second half, stretching the lead to 12, and the lead remained in double digits for the duration of the second half. Warren's three-point play and alley-oop from Orr keyed a 7-0 push that made it 47-30 with 12:36 to go. Duffy drilled a trio of triples over the game's final five minutes as the lead grew as large as 22, leaving no drama.
This marks Chico State's third NCAA Championship Tournament West Region title in nine years, and two of those were canceled. The Wildcats won it for the first time ever in 2014 and again in 2017.
This year's team will attempt to do what the other two have been unable to: win its first-round game at the Elite Eight. The Elite Eight seeds and bracket will be revealed at NCAA.com following a committee conference call scheduled to take place Tuesday—when six of the nation's regional finals take place—at 7 p.m., Pacific.
"Knowing that we can win a national championship —Three games. One game at a time. Keep chipping away—It means everything to me and the team. Regardless of if we win it's been a pleasure. Definitely worth coming back."
LINK TO THE NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
