ARCATA — Another week, another roadtrip for the Humboldt State men's basketball Lumberjacks, who travel to face Cal State Stanislaus on Friday and Chico State on Saturday. Having just returned from a successful trip to Southern California, HSU will have played seven of it's last nine games away from Lumberjack Arena.
"We're trying to maintain our road warrior attitude," Head coach
Steve Kinder said. "Whether we're in airports, hotels, waiting around for rental vehicles, the players are enjoying the experience. All three assistant coaches are having a great time, too. They add so much positive energy."
Cal State Stanislaus begins the week with a 7-5 conference record that places the Warriors one game behind Chico State and Humboldt State, both of whom are included in a five-way tie for first in league with 8-4 marks. CSUS is 11-5 overall, Chico State stands at 14-4, and the Lumberjacks carry a 12-4 record into the weekend. Also 8-4 in league are Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State San Bernardino.
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.
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/ . Fans can follow the CSU Stanislaus live stats at http://csuswarriors.com/stanislaus/mbb/. The URL for Chico State's live stats is located at http://www.ccaalivestats.com/chico/mbb/xlive.htm
Head-to-Head
Following a tough 65-63 loss to the Wildcats on HSU's home court in December, the Lumberjacks now trail Chico State, 72-106 in the all-time series. In the basketball history of the two programs, HSU has played Chico State more than any other school. … Humboldt State leads the historical series against Cal State Stanislaus, 38-29, after defeating the Warriors, 91-76 in Lumberjack Arena on Dec. 19.
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 - CSU Stanislaus
G - #10, Vince Fuller, 6-3, Jr., Compton
G - #11, Dan Daviess, 6-2, Sr., Danville
G - #15, Marcus Waters, 6-4, Jr., Riverside
F - #13, Reggie Jones, 6-9, Sr., Paterson, New Jersey
F - #23, Brett Sayad, 6-6, Sr., Ceres
Projected Starters - Chico State
G - #5 Damario Sims, 6-0, Jr., Oakland
G - #10, Jay Flores, 6-0, Sr., Sacramento
G - #20, Sean Park, 6-4, So., Santa Barbara
F - #15, Amir Carraway, 6-5, So., Vallejo
C - #44, Jason Conrad, 7-0, Jr., Gilroy
Lumberjack Notes
Having just passed the midway point of the CCAA season, the Lumberjacks share first place with four other teams. At the same point a year ago, CSU Dominguez Hills and Humboldt State were tied for first, both with 8-1 records. Cal Poly Pomona and San Francisco State shared third place, trailing the leaders by two games. …Humboldt State ranks 10th in turnover margin among NCAA Division II programs. The Lumberjacks boast a 4.5 ratio, having forced opponents into 279 turnovers while giving the ball up 207 times themselves. …One injury is on the mend, but another is more prominently effecting D.J. Broome. A right thumb injury that has plagued the senior guard since December is slowly healing, but a foot injury suffered last Friday provided another cause for concern. Despite the injury, Broome played 27 minutes in Saturday's victory over UC San Diego, dishing a team-high six assists while committing only two turnovers. "D.J. is embracing the attitude, 'I'm not going to play in the NBA, so these are my last few games and I have to make the most of them,'" Kinder said. …Kyle Baxter surpassed his career single-game scoring high with 23 points against UC San Diego. The 6-9 forward from Sacramento posted his previous high of 21 points earlier this season in a non-league game against Simon Fraser. "Kyle is playing multiple positions for us, everything from point guard to strong forward to post," Kinder said. "That alone makes him a tough match-up for other teams." …While the Jacks and all other CCAA teams have dropped out of the weekly national Top 25 poll, they'll patiently wait for the list that counts most – the NCAA Division II West Region rankings. The first of the season is scheduled for February 15, and will continue weekly until the championships field selection announcement March 4.
Opponents' Notes
Chico State guard Damario Sims was named the CCAA) men's basketball Player of the Week after averaging 22 points on 61.5 percent (8-for-13) shooting from beyond the three-point arc to lead the Wildcats to road wins over Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay. During a 93-76 victory over Cal State East Bay on Friday, Sims scored a career-high 28 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, dished out six assists and collected three rebounds. He came back on Saturday to score 16 points, collect three rebounds and two assists in an 82-61 win over Cal State Monterey Bay. …Sims, a junior from Oakland, leads the Wildcats in scoring with 12.0 points per game, followed by Amir Carraway's 10.3 ppg average. …Chico State has won its last three games, two fewer than the Jacks, who currently hold the longest streak in league with five straight wins. …Cal State Stanislaus' versatile big man, 6-9 Reggie Jones, is putting up twice the scoring average of the next closest Warrior with 18.8 points per game, a mark that tops all players in the CCAA. He also leads his team in rebounding (6.8 boards per game) and blocked shots (21), while connecting on 52 percent of his 3-point attempts (11-21). …Friday is "Make a Wish" night at Fitzpatrick Arena, an event that includes charitable activities supporting the "Make a Wish Foundation," an organization that grants the wishes of children facing life-threatening illnesses.
Kinder's Comments
"Cal State Stanislaus has huge, long, athletic players, and they're playing very good basketball," Kinder said. "They cause a lot of problems for opponents. We have to come up with a specific game plan to prepare for the Warriors." … " Chico State is one of the teams tied for first place, so they're obviously playing well. We have to draw on the revenge factor after our loss to the Wildcats earlier this season." …"Chico State has a lot of weapons to try to match up with. They're a very balanced team." … "We like where we're at right now, but as we've seen how that can quickly change. A couple of weeks ago, after losing to Cal State L.A., it felt like we were out of it. Two weeks later, we're feeling good. As (former HSU head) coach (Tom) Wood used to say, 'things are never as bad as they seem, and usually never as good as they seem." …Our goal remains the same - to be playing our best basketball by the time arrives. As a coaching staff, we feel like we haven't even come close to reaching this team's potential."
