#CCAAmbb Notebook: Two #postCCAAson Spots Remain in Final Week
Schedule/Results | Standings | Stats
UC San Diego, Cal State San Bernardino, Chico State, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State East Bay and Stanislaus State have clinched CCAA Tournament spots, with the Tritons the outright regular-season champions and thus the top seed. They are assured a home quarterfinal on March 3, as are the Coyotes, Wildcats and Broncos, though exact seeds two through four have not yet been solidified. The Pioneers and Warriors are assured of either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed. Humboldt State and Sonoma State have been eliminated from postseason contention, with the remaining five teams bunched together in the final, furious race for the last two tickets to the conference tourney.
The top eight teams in the standings earn a berth in the 2019-20 CCAA Basketball Tournament, with quarterfinal action on campus sites scheduled for Tuesday, March 3. The four advancing squads will then converge on La Jolla and the campus of UC San Diego, as renovated RIMAC Arena hosts the semifinals and final, March 6-7. In their 20th and final season of CCAA membership, the Tritons hold the top spot in both the men’s and women’s standings. The winner of the CCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will again receive the league’s automatic bid to the eight-team NCAA West Regional.
Tournament Central >>>
Fourth-ranked repeat league champion UC San Diego (26-1, 20-1 CCAA) has won a program-record 18-consecutive games. In the Bay Area last week, the Tritons knocked off Cal State East Bay (62-55) and Cal State Monterey Bay (84-64). Christian Oshita scored a game-high 25 points in Hayward as they clinched the title outright, while Tyrell Roberts went for 25 of his own in Seaside with six assists, five boards and three steals.
Cal State San Bernardino (20-6, 15-5 CCAA) bounced back from a second-straight defeat, 75-63 at Cal State LA on Thursday night, by downing Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday, 64-58. Daytone Jennings (17-11) and Jeremy Smith (11-10) each posted point-rebound double-doubles, with the Coyotes winning despite going 1-16 from three.
Chico State (20-6, 15-5 CCAA) reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in the last seven years as it swept a home pair with double-digit margins over San Francisco State (80-69) and Sonoma State (77-58). Malik Duffy’s 16 points paced four Wildcats in double figures against the Gators. He and fellow junior Calvin Geraci then dropped 21 apiece versus the Seawolves, combining to shoot 13-of-26 from the field, 7-of-15 from three-point range and a perfect 9-of-9 at the line.
William Christmas starred for Cal Poly Pomona (19-6, 15-5 CCAA) during a road split. The senior first went for a game-high 30 points in an 86-82 overtime loss in Carson on Thursday. He posted his seventh career double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead all players two days later in a 72-65 win at Cal State LA, adding four assists.
Cal State East Bay (15-11, 11-9 CCAA) clinched its tourney trip Saturday as the Pioneers responded to that Thursday defeat to the Tritons by handling Cal State San Marcos on Senior Day, 73-68. Junior newcomer Zafir Williams turned in his league-leading 12th double-double, of a game-high 25 points to go with 10 boards.
Stanislaus State (15-11, 11-10 CCAA) suffered a 79-64 setback in Turlock to Humboldt State in its lone activity. Ty Davis’ 24 points weren’t enough as Leland Green poured in 30 for the visitors, connecting on 10-of-15 field goals and six of his nine triples.
Cal State Dominguez Hills (8-12) moved up from eighth to seventh with Thursday’s thrilling triumph over Cal Poly Pomona. Alex Garcia had 20 points, while Wonder Smith narrowly missed a triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Cal State San Marcos (8-13) holds the eighth and final tourney position by just half a game after getting swept in the Bay Area. Cal State LA (7-13), Cal State Monterey Bay (7-13) and San Francisco State (6-14) are all coming off of losses as well, but remain alive for one of those last two tickets.
The Golden Eagles do so by having snapped a four-game skid with that huge victory at home over Cal State San Bernardino. Fard Muhammad tallied a game-high 27 points. The hosts took that one despite losing the rebounding battle, 57-30, to the national leader in rebound margin, with three Coyote double-doubles. The 57 boards were the second-most in the CCAA this season, behind Cal State LA’s 64 against Bethesda.
CCAA Scoreboard
Thursday, Feb. 20
Cal State Dominguez Hills 86, Cal Poly Pomona 82 (OT)
Cal State LA 75, Cal State San Bernardino 63
Chico State 80, San Francisco State 69
Cal State Monterey Bay 88, Cal State San Marcos 76
UC San Diego 62, Cal State East Bay 55
Saturday, Feb. 22
UC San Diego 84, Cal State Monterey Bay 64
Cal State East Bay 73, Cal State San Marcos 68
Cal Poly Pomona 72, Cal State LA 65
Cal State San Bernardino 64, Cal State Dominguez Hills 58
Humboldt State 79, Stanislaus State 64
Chico State 77, Sonoma State 58
| Oshita Helps Clinch Title for Tritons, Earns FOurth Career CCAA POTW |
Redshirt senior forward Christian Oshita averaged 22.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while helping UC San Diego clinch the regular-season banner outright, to pick up his second CCAA Player of the Week distinction this season and fourth of his career, for Feb. 17-23. The Torrance product shot 50.0 percent (17-34) from the field and knocked down nine of 23 three-point attempts. During Thursday night’s 62-55 win at Cal State East Bay that assured the Tritons the outright title, Oshita led all players with 25 points, adding nine boards. In Saturday afternoon’s 84-64 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay, he provided 20 points and four rebounds, without committing a turnover over 34 minutes.
Read more on Christian >>>
The CCAA men’s basketball regular season wraps up with its usual slate of five primetime tilts Thursday and the full six games Saturday. Humboldt State is the lone idle squad that day, as the Jacks conclude their 2019-20 campaign on Senior Night in Arcata against Chico State on Thursday.
Also at 7:30 p.m., Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State LA are at San Francisco State and Sonoma State, respectively, with three of those squads still fighting for one of the remaining CCAA Tournament spots. In southern parts, Cal State Monterey Bay is at Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State East Bay is at Cal Poly Pomona.
Three of Saturday’s games start at 3 p.m. Should UC San Diego win at city rival Cal State San Marcos on Senior Day inside The Sports Center, it would equal the school record for victories in a season, of 27 from 2016-17. It would also mean a still-perfect 16-0 mark for the Tritons outside of La Jolla, with the team almost assuredly playing at home over the first two weeks of the postseason. The Cougars, meanwhile, likely have to win to extend their year.
The Toros are in Rohnert Park and the Golden Eagles in San Francisco on Senior Day at those locations. Stanislaus State hosts Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona welcomes in Cal State Monterey Bay at 7:30 p.m. A final Senior Night affair tips off at approximately 8 p.m. in San Bernardino between the Coyotes and Pioneers.
Ten of the 11 games this week are on the CCAA Network, with all but one for free.
Mark Your Calendars
Thursday, Feb. 27
Chico State at Humboldt State | 7:30 p.m. | CCAA Network ($)
Cal State Monterey Bay at Cal State San Bernardino | 7:30 p.m. | CCAA Network
Cal State Dominguez Hills at San Francisco State | 7:30 p.m. | CCAA Network
Cal State LA at Sonoma State | 7:30 p.m. | CCAA Network
Cal State East Bay at Cal Poly Pomona | 7:30 p.m. | CCAA Network
Saturday, Feb. 29
Cal State LA at San Francisco State | 3 p.m. | CCAA Network
Cal State Dominguez Hills at Sonoma State | 3 p.m. | CCAA Network
UC San Diego at Cal State San Marcos | 3 p.m. | CCAA Network
Chico State at Stanislaus State | 7:30 p.m.
Cal State Monterey Bay at Cal Poly Pomona | 7:30 p.m. | CCAA Network
Cal State East Bay at Cal State San Bernardino | 8 p.m. | CCAA Network
Games listed on the CCAA Network can be viewed online at ccaanetwork.com, or by downloading the channel on Android, Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. Please note that some contests are pay-per-view, on a campus-by-campus basis. All UC San Diego home games are free to watch on ESPN3.
Our final Game of the Week is Thursday’s lone contest that features two teams who are still alive for a CCAA Tournament berth without already having locked one up, as Cal State Dominguez Hills (12-14, 8-12 CCAA) heads up to the Bay Area to take on San Francisco State (9-17, 6-14 CCAA). Tip-off inside Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza is slated for 7:30 p.m, with a free live stream on the CCAA Network.
The Gators are hanging by a thread in 11th, and absolutely have to sweep their home pair this weekend, get help elsewhere and rely on complicated tiebreakers. The Toros are currently in the field, in seventh, but are not guaranteed a spot. San Francisco State is 3-8 at home in 2019-20, while Cal State Dominguez Hills is 3-8 outside of Carson.
Both teams are coming off losses, with the Gators having dropped their last two, and seven of their last eight following a three-game win streak.
The Toros edged out a 66-63 home decision in this year’s first meeting back on Nov. 21, putting four in double figures to offset a game-high 23 points by the Gators’ Linton Acliese III. Junior Colten Kresl led the hosts with 16 points, six assists and three steals. The sides split last season’s series, each winning at home by double digits.
Through Feb. 25, UC San Diego leads all of Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.87), and is fourth in won-lost percentage (96.3), three-point field goals per game (12.6) and total three-point field goals made (339). The Tritons are seventh in fewest turnovers (267), scoring margin (17.0) and turnovers per game (9.9), eighth in three-point field goal attempts (841), and 10th in assists per game (18.5) and total assists (500).
Cal State San Bernardino is No. 1 nationally in rebound margin (10.7) and eighth in total rebounds per game (41.85). Cal Poly Pomona is sixth in scoring defense (63.6), seventh in field goal percentage defense (40.3) and turnover margin (5.3), ninth in steals per game (9.6), and 11th in turnovers forced (17.72). Sonoma State is eighth in fewest fouls (357), while Chico State is 11th in rebound margin (7.5).
Individually, UC San Diego’s Mikey Howell is fifth in total assists (193), sixth in assists per game (7.1) and 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.16). Cal State San Marcos’ Jayce McCain has a share of the nation’s third-best single-game effort of nine steals, coming Nov. 9 against Concordia Irvine. He is tied for fourth in assist-to-turnover radio (3.75).
UC San Diego’s Tyrell Roberts (18.5) paces the CCAA in scoring, followed by San Francisco State’s Linton Acliese III (18.4), UC San Diego’s Christian Oshita (18.1), Cal State East Bay’s Zafir Williams (17.7) and Cal State San Bernardino’s Jeremy Smith (17.6). Cal State San Marcos’ Khalil Fuller (8.9) is tops in rebounding ahead of Cal State San Bernardino’s Daytone Jennings (8.6) and Williams (8.5). Howell is the assists leader. Williams has a league-best 12 double-doubles, which rank second in the West Region and tied for 19th in the country, with Fuller behind him at 10 double-doubles.
With Cal Poly Pomona the league’s best defensive team statistically, UC San Diego is No. 1 on offense, averaging 82.7 points per outing.
Wednesday marked the second unveiling of the
NCAA’s official regional rankings, which are used to determine the 64-team field for the NCAA Championship. UC San Diego continues to top the West listing, followed by Cal Poly Pomona (No. 3), Chico State (No. 4) and Cal State San Bernardino (No. 6). The top eight are slotted for the West Regional, with the Tritons likely to host that event. The third release is set for March 4, with the final bracket announcement on March 8 at 7:30 p.m. PT, live on NCAA.com.
UC San Diego (26-1) remains No. 4
in Tuesday’s latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll. The Tritons have been in the top 10 for all 14 in-season editions. Cal State San Bernardino (20-6) fell five spots to No. 23, while Cal Poly Pomona (19-6) dropped out and is receiving votes alongside Chico State (20-6).
UC San Diego was also unchanged in the other Division II national poll,
conducted by D2SIDA, still at No. 3 and earning two of 15 first-place votes. The Broncos, Wildcats and Coyotes are all receiving votes outside of the top 25.
Defending CCAA regular-season co-champion and three-time reigning CCAA Tournament victor UC San Diego topped the
2019-20 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll, earning 11 first-place votes. Cal Poly Pomona, which shared last year’s regular-season crown with the Tritons after finishing the 2017-18 campaign as the outright champ, was second with the remaining two first-place nods. Cal State East Bay, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State LA, Chico State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and San Francisco State rounded out the predicted CCAA Tournament field.
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