Jacks vs. Dominguez Hills (2/23)
Two weeks ago, there were a lot of questions on whether the Humboldt State Men’s Basketball team can find a way to win back to back on a Friday-Saturday road trip. After going 4-0 on the past road trip, the Lumberjacks are coming back home to Lumberjack Arena to wrap up the regular season in the CCAA. First up will be a huge showdown on Wednesday night as Humboldt State will take on Cal State Dominguez Hills. The tip off is scheduled for 7:30 PM with the Pre Game Show starting following the completion of the Women’s Basketball game that will start at 5:30 PM. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1340 AM and on the Internet at Humboldt State University Athletics. J.B. Mathers and the Hall of Famer Burt Nordstrom will provide the accounts of the game from courtside at Lumberjack Arena.
Humboldt State, who moved up to # 3 in the nation in the latest NABC poll, comes into the contest with an 18-2 record in the CCAA and 22-2 overall. On Saturday night, the Lumberjacks completed a 4-0 road swing by defeating Cal State Monterey Bay by the final score of 76-68.
This game with Cal State Dominguez Hills has a lot on the line. A win by Humboldt State would give the Lumberjacks an outright CCAA regular season championship. However, a win by the Toros would keep their hopes alive for a piece of the conference title and the # 1 seed in the upcoming CCAA Tournament that starts next week. On top of the conference supremacy, this game will have a huge impact in the West Region as both teams are battling for a shot to land the # 1 seed in the West and the right to host the West Regional Championships in a couple of weeks. The next regional ranking will be out on Wednesday afternoon.
Let’s look back to last Saturday’s game at Cal State Monterey Bay.
Humboldt State:
Team: 76 points, 48.0% FG %, 30.0% 3 PT FG %, 69.4% FT %, 33 rebounds, + 8 rebounding margin, 9 assists, 11 turnovers, 3 steals, 2 blocks
Individual Leaders:
Randy Hunter: 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Brian Morris: 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Kyle Baxter: 14 points, 9 rebounds
Cal State Monterey Bay:
Team: 68 points, 40.7% FG %, 31.6% 3 PT FG %, 78.3% FT %, 25 rebounds, - 8 rebounding margin, 11 assists, 11 turnovers, 8 steals, 3 blocks
Individual Leaders:
Davion Berry: 30 points, 5 rebounds 3 assists, 2 steals
Warren Freeman: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Derrick Anderson: 7 points, 3 rebounds
When I look at this game, the Lumberjacks had their hands full with Davion Berry. Berry came out and really set the tone in the first half. In fact, Berry dominated the first half as he scored 23 points in the first 20 minutes. That is what gave Cal State Monterey Bay a 10 point lead in the first half. However, the Lumberjacks were able to answer the bell and eventually got an eight point at halftime thanks to good perimeter shooting from Ernie Spada.
Then, in the second half, Humboldt State did a good job in limiting the output from the Berry. The ways things were going, Berry was going to try to have his 50 point night against Humboldt State. The Lumberjacks held Berry to 7 points in the second half and that allowed Humboldt State to maintain the lead and to get the win. That is one big key to the victory in Seaside.
The last point I want to make deals with the entire road trip. As I have mentioned before, there were a lot of fans and experts that would have taken a 2-2 record in these four games. I thought 3-1 was possible, but I did not see a 4-0 road trip. This Humboldt State team believes they can win every game they play. In the past 10 years, there has been two other teams that had that type of attitude in every game. You have to look at the 2003-04 team and the 2006-07 team to find that winning attitude. Now, Humboldt State is at home for the last two games of the regular season. If they can continue to win, then we could be looking at the Lumberjacks having the West Regional Championships in Arcata for the second time in four years.
Let’s look at the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros.
Cal State Dominguez Hills comes into the contest as the # 15 ranked team in the nation in the latest NABC poll. The Toros are 16-4 in the CCAA and 20-4 overall. After losing to UC San Diego on Friday night by the final score of 61-59, Cal State Dominguez Hills bounced back to beat Cal State East Bay by the final score of 72-57. The Toros trail the Lumberjacks by two games and they need to win twice this week and the Lumberjacks to lose twice this week to get a share of the CCAA title and the # 1 seed in the CCAA Tournament.
When you look at the Toros, Cal State Dominguez Hills is a tall, veteran team that plays a very physical style on the court. The physical play does not result in a lot of turnovers, but it can led to a lot bad shots. The Toros are athletic and they can be balance from the inside and out. The one thing that I have noticed in their games this year is that Cal State Dominguez Hills can let teams hang around for a while and then at one point in the game, the Toros will go on a run that will overwhelm their opponents. This is the reason why Cal State Dominguez Hills is 20-4 this year.
Let’s go inside the numbers for this game.
Humboldt State:
Team: 76.8 points per game, 46.7% FG %, 34.2% 3 PT FG %, 72.0% FT %, 35.4 rebounds per game, 12.9 assists per game, 12.2 turnovers per game, 6.1 steals per game, 2.9 blocks per game
Opponents: 65.8 points per game, 43.4% FG %, 31.2% 3 PT FG %, 67.4% FT %, 31.8 rebounds per game, 12.0 assists per game, 14.5 turnovers per game, 5.0 steals per game, 2.4 blocks per game
Players to Watch:
Brian Morris: 18.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 58.0% FG %,
Randy Hunter: 15.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 50.8% FG %
Brandon Sperling: 12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.0 apg
Cal State Dominguez Hills:
Team: 67.3 points per game, 46.2% FG %, 35.7% 3 PT FG %, 72.8% FT %, 38.0 rebounds per game, 11.3 assists per game, 14.6 turnovers per game, 6.2 steals per game, 3.1 blocks per game
Opponents: 59.0 points per game, 37.2% FG %, 30.2% 3 PT FG %, 70.9% FT %, 28.8 rebounds per game, 11.5 assists per game, 13.5 turnovers per game, 6.6 steals per game, 1.9 blocks per game
Players to Watch:
Michael Cox: 12.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 57.7% FG %
Marcquintice Davis: 12.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.1 apg
Zareh Zargaryan: 9.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Here are the Keys to the Game:
1. Composure. Let’s look back at the first meeting. Cal State Dominguez Hills played a very physical game against Brian Morris and the rest of the Lumberjacks. That physical play got Morris off his game and he would get tossed from the game. If Humboldt State is to win this game, they need to stay compose and do not fall for the bait from the physical play that the Toros will bring to this game.
2. Survive the run. The one thing that Cal State Dominguez Hills does in each of their games is they go on a run which starts late in the first half or early in the second half. When they go to the perimeter, the Toros turn to Robert Willhite. Willhite is shooting 39% from the three point line this year and he hit four three pointers in the second half to break the game open in the second half against Humboldt State. When the Toros go inside, they like to go to Michael Cox. If there is a drive to the hole, they look to Zareh Zargaryan to get the job done. The point is simple, the Lumberjacks need to survive the run and give yourself a chance to win this game.
3. Energy. Here is one interesting note for this game. In all of the games that Cal State Dominguez Hills has played this year, the Toros have played in front of more than 1,000 in attendance once this year (at Chico State back on January 28th when 1,225 attended that game). One thing will be guaranteed in this game, the Toros will be playing in the largest crowd they faced this season. If I’m Humboldt State, the first five minutes of this game will be key. If the Lumberjacks can get off to a good start and get the crowd into the game, the edge goes to Humboldt State. The Toros want Lumberjack Arena quiet and they will look to get off to a faster start in this game. The energy in Lumberjack Arena will be one thing to watch in this upcoming game.
Here are the predictions.
I have a gut feeling that this will be echoed at the end of game.
Where's the beef?: YouTube - Wendy's 1984 Where's The Beef Commercial
Score: Humboldt State 71, Cal State Dominguez Hills 65
Scorer: Morris 21
Rebounder: Hunter 9
Assists: Sperling 4
Steals: Hunter 1
Blocks: Morris 1
Turnovers: 13
FG %: 43%
3 PT FG %: 37%
FT %: 75%
Rebounding Margin: Humboldt State + 1
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