ARCATA — Two more tough tests on the road await the Lumberjack men's basketball team, who travel for games at Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego this week. Friday's tip-off against California Collegiate Athletic Association leader CSUSB is set for 7:30 p.m., as is Saturday's start time in La Jolla.
Cal State San Bernardino has taken over the top spot in league with a 8-2 record, and is 9-4 overall. UC San Diego brings a 2-8 CCAA mark and 6-9 overall record into weekend action. Following two home victories, Humboldt State stands at 10-4 overall and 6-4 in conference play.
Following the weekend's games, the CCAA season will be one game past the midpoint for Humboldt State. The Lumberjack will have played travel partner Sonoma State twice and every other league opponent once after Saturday.
On-the-Air
Every Lumberjack basketball game is broadcast live over the local airwaves on KATA, 1340 AM, beginning with the pregame show 15 minutes prior to game time. Bicoastal Media Sports Director J.B. Mathers describes the action from courtside.
LIve Streaming
Audio and video of home games are also streamed live over the Internet. The UStream format allows an interactive chat between listeners during the webcast. The specific URL for access is located at
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/humboldt-state-athletics. Video for Friday's game vs. the Coyotes is being streamed at http://acm.csusb.edu/videoproduction/livevideo.html. Saturday's match-up with UC San Diego is linked at http://www.ucsdtritons.com/newMediaPlayer/consolewmp.htm?type=live&KEY=&oemid=5800&id=452033.
Live Stats
All Lumberjack basketball home games can be tracked online by using the Live Stats feature on
www.hsujacks.com. Real time statistics, momentum tracker and other information are included on the game viewer. The feature can be found at
http://www.sidearmstats.com/humboldt/mbball/ . Live Stats for Friday's game can be found at http://www.ccaalivestats.com/bernardino/mbb/xlive.htm, and Saturday's are linked at http://www.ucsdtritons.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml.
Head-to-Head
With two wins during the 2010-11 season, Humboldt State gained on Cal State San Bernardino in the historical series, but still trails, 6-13. Humboldt State earned a 68-61 win over the Coyotes on the road last year. …The Lumberjacks are 10-1 all-time against the UC San Diego Tritons, claiming two victories last year, including a 67-57 decision in La Jolla.
Head Coach Steve Kinder
The "Kinder Era" began last year with a 26-4 record and a regular season conference title, finishing Kinder's inaugural season of 2010-11 with high standards to match in the future. But the National Coach of the Year hasn't been resting on his laurels, instead attending to the myriad of duties from recruiting to planning another run to the title. After serving as the Jacks' No. 1 assistant for the 20 seasons, Kinder took over for his mentor, Tom Wood, in 2010-11. As an assistant, he played critical roles in recruiting and coaching while helping the Jacks' 217-77 record achieved during the past decade. Kinder is a former HSU basketball player who was a member of the 1984-85 NCAC championship team. He previously served as a graduate assistant coach for the Lumberjacks (1986-88).
Projected Starters - Humboldt State
G - #3, D.J. Broome, 5-5, Sr., Castro Valley
G - #2 Scott Clark, 6-4, Sr., Pleasanton
G - #4 Brandon Sperling, 6-3, Sr., Fresno
F - #21 Randy Hunter, 6-6, Sr., Santa Maria
F - #21 Kyle Baxter, 6-9, Sr., Sacramento
Projected Starters - Cal State San Bernardino
G - #22 Vaughn Adams, 5-10, Sr., Fontana
G - #24 Johnny Bell, 6-3, Jr., Moreno Valley
F - #23 Tre Brewer, 6-5, Sr., Alta Loma
F - #32 Theron Ludermill, 6-7, Sr., Riverside
F - #44 Kwame Alexander, 6-7, Jr., Moreno Valley
Projected Starters - UC San Diego
G - #25 Ryan Peters, 6-4, Jr., Santa Clarita
G - #10 James McCann, 5-11, So., Carlsbad
G - #12 Tyler McGrath, 6-3, Jr., Camarillo
F - #20 Justin Brue, 6-5, Jr., Hayward
F - #42, Christian Hatch, 6-8, Sr., Henderson, Nev.
Lumberjack Notes
While there's plenty of time to make a charge toward the CCAA title, the Lumberjacks still need to find consistency on the road. To date, they're 8-1 in home games, but only 2-3 while traveling. Starting a string of four consecutive road games against the CSUSB Coyotes doesn't make the task any easier. Before breaking through with a victory last year, Humboldt State had lost all five previous games the Jacks have played in San Bernardino over the years. …In the past three games – all wins – Kinder has gone with a starting lineup featuring all seniors. "The seniors have become a five-headed captain," Kinder said. "They're playing with a sense of responsibility and ownership." Guards Brandon Sperling and Scott Clark are the only HSU players to have started every game this season. …Two strong games by senior Kyle Baxter have lifted him into a double-figures scoring average of 11.1 points per game. Baxter put up 19 points against both Cal Poly Pomona and San Francisco State last week, and found his stroke from three-point range with a combined 4-of-7 effort. …Another senior, D.J. Broome, made his first home start against Cal Poly Pomona last week, and has started the past three games. Broome ranks second in the CCAA in steals with an average of 1.8 per game. …Humboldt State bounced back from the previous weekend's sub-par scoring by putting up 70 points in each game last week. The Lumberjacks continue to lead the CCAA in scoring with an average of 77.6 points per game.
Opponents' Notes
Cal State San Bernardino puts a starting lineup on the court that features a tandem of consistent scorers in Theron Laudermill and Tre Brewer. Both senior forwards, Laudermill is averaging 14.2 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game, while Brewer puts up 12.5 points on average. Laudermill currently leads the CCAA in free throw shooting percentage (.838) and blocked shots per game (1.7). Kwame Alexander, a 6-7 junior forward, tops the entire CCAA in rebounding with 7.9 boards per game. Alexander also ranks second in league in field goal percentage, hitting 58 percent of his attempts. …The Coyotes' win over Cal State East Bay was the 200th careeer victory for coach Jeff Oliver, who has fashioned a 200-75 record midway through his 10th season at CSUSB. …Despite it's 6-9 record, UC San Diego poses a significant threat, indicated by big wins over San Francisco State and CSU Monterey Bay. The Tritons have played three overtime games this season, including a 66-63 loss to CSU San Bernardino. …Fourth-year senior Christian Hatch continues his stellar career at UCSD, and is currently the Tritons' leading scorer (14.3 ppg) and rebounder (7.5 rpg). Hatch grabbed 14 rebounds in Friday's overtime loss to Cal State East Bay, one shy of his season-high of 15 against CSUSB in November. Hatch was held out of the win over CSUMB Saturday because of a wrist injury, but is expected to be back and healthy this week.
Kinder's Comments
"As a program, we had never won before, but we finally broke through (with a win) at San Bernardino last year. Our returners now know what that feels like, and what a classic Humboldt State-Cal State San Bernardino battle is all about." …" CSU San Bernardino has two of the most dominant big men in our league, and prolific scorers in Tre Brewer and Theron Laudermill. They also have a group of guards who contrast one another well. Some are shooters, some penetrate, and they all play defense." …UC San Diego is a well-coached team that has played all of their opponents close. We've made note of their overtime loss to San Bernardino earlier this year. We know we'll have to play 40 minutes of quality basketball if we hope to be successful." …"We'll have to approach each game individually instead of thinking of this as a four-game roadtrip with back-to-back games each weekend. Our players need to continue to share the same attitude, as a group, and stay focused together. We'll likely stumble along the way, but we hope to be in a good position when Feb. 2 comes along and we're back at home."
