Two polar opposite basketball teams meet today at the Icardo Center in California\u2019s San Joaquin Valley.<\/p>\n
Hawaii is 17-5 overall and tied for the first in the Big West at 9-3. Riding an eight-game losing streak, Cal State Bakersfield is in the Big West cellar at 8-17 and 2-11.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not worried about the rankings and all that,\u201d said guard\/wing Quandre \u201cDre\u201d Bullock, whose Rainbow Warriors are 10th in College Insider\u2019s Mid-Major top 25. \u201cWe feel comfortable where we are. We\u2019ve still got games to win and to prove our No. 1 seed. We\u2019re focusing on one game at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u2019Bows have managed without point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, who will miss the rest of the season because of a \u201cturf toe\u201d on his left foot.<\/p>\n
\u201cInjuries suck, but they happen,\u201d Bullock said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always got our brothers\u2019 back. We\u2019re doing what we can, even guys who aren\u2019t playing. We definitely need their energy, as well. We\u2019re buying in and trying to do the best we can with what we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u2019Bows\u2019 active roster is down to 10 players, with most of the minutes going to eight. Isaac \u201cBig Fish\u201d Johnson, captain Harry Rouhliadeff and reserves Gytis Nemeiksa and Yacine Toumi are sharing the reps at the two post positions. Hunter Erickson, Bullock and Isaiah Kerr are rotating in the backcourt. Since moving into the starting lineup, wing Isaac Finlinson is averaging 12.0 points while hitting 50% of his 3s in the past five games.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt helps guys to play more,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYou can see everybody\u2019s flow. Hopefully, we can keep our bodies fresh and be smart with what we\u2019re doing individually on and off the court, and be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the tight rotation, Erickson said, \u201cEveryone knows they\u2019re going to be playing and playing a lot of minutes. That can be an advantage, giving guys confidence knowing what\u2019s going to happen with the rotation. There are more opportunities to get warm and be ready in the game. You know you don\u2019t have to worry about, \u2018oh, am I going to go in?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It has been a season on the blink for the Roadrunners. Last September, it was revealed Kyle Conder was no longer CSUB\u2019s athletic director. Assistant coach Kevin Nays was arrested and charged with several felonies. And Rod Barnes resigned after 14 years as CSUB\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n
Acting head coach Mike Scott has tapped the brakes on the Roadrunners\u2019 fast-tempo offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to re-brand the way we play a little bit so we can fit the guys we have right now,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing together. We have to put it together for 40 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that also means being healthy. Guard CJ Hardy suffered a broken foot and is still mending. Wing Jaden Alexander and forward Caleb McCarty also are injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree guys we expected to depend on this year are out,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
The Roadrunners have received a boost from point guard Dailin Smith, who averages a team-high 15.8 points, and reserve guard Kadar Waller. Ronald Jessamy, who averages 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, Pierre Geneste and Tom Mark are the focus of the inside-out offense.<\/p>\n
In an impassioned speech to the players, Scott said: \u201cNow it\u2019s time to show who we are. Now it\u2019s time to step up to the plate. We\u2019ve got to go out and battle and fight. We have to give ourselves an opportunity late in the game and go win it.\u201d<\/p>\n
BIG WEST MEN\u2019S STANDINGS<\/p>\n
TEAM
\nCONF W
\nCONF L
\nPCT
\nGB
\nALL W
\nALL L<\/p>\n
Hawaii
\n9
\n3
\n.750
\n\u2014
\n17
\n5<\/p>\n
UC Irvine
\n9
\n3
\n.750
\n\u2014
\n16
\n8<\/p>\n
UCSB
\n9
\n4
\n.692
\n1\/2
\n16
\n8<\/p>\n
UC Davis
\n8
\n5
\n.615
\n1 1\/2
\n15
\n9<\/p>\n
CS Northridge
\n8
\n5
\n.615
\n1 1\/2
\n15
\n10<\/p>\n
CS Fullerton
\n7
\n6
\n.538
\n2 1\/2
\n12
\n13<\/p>\n
UC San Diego
\n6
\n7
\n.462
\n3 1\/2
\n16
\n9<\/p>\n
Cal Poly
\n5
\n8
\n.385
\n4 1\/2
\n9
\n16<\/p>\n
LBSU
\n4
\n8
\n.333
\n5
\n8
\n16<\/p>\n
UC Riverside
\n3
\n10
\n.231
\n6 1\/2
\n8
\n17<\/p>\n
CSU Bakersfield
\n2
\n11
\n.154
\n7 1\/2
\n8
\n17<\/p>\n
UPCOMING SCHEDULE<\/p>\n
DATE
\nMATCHUPS<\/p>\n
Thursday<\/p>\n
Hawaii at Cal State Bakersfield, 4:30 p.m.
UC Davis at UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside
Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State
UC Irvine at Cal Poly<\/p>\n
Saturday<\/p>\n
Hawaii at Cal State Northridge, 3 p.m.
Long Beach State at UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara at Cal Poly
Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine
UC Riverside at UC San Diego<\/p>\n
Thursday, Feb. 19<\/p>\n
Cal Poly at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
CS Northridge at UC Santa Barbara
Cal State Bakersfield at UC Riverside
UC Davis at Cal State Fullerton
UC Irvine at Long Beach State<\/p>\n
Saturday, Feb. 21<\/p>\n
UC Santa Barbara at Hawaii, 5 p.m.
UC Davis at UC Riverside
CS Northridge at Long Beach State
Cal State Fullerton at Cal State Bakersfield
UC San Diego at UC Irvine<\/p>\n
Rainbow Warriors Basketball<\/p>\n
At Icardo Center, Bakersfield, Calif.<\/p>\n
HAWAII (17-5, 9-3 BIG WEST) AT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD (8-17, 2-11 BIG WEST)<\/p>\n
>> When: Today at 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
>> TV: None<\/p>\n
>> Radio: 1420-AM \/ 92.7-FM<\/p>\n
>> Streaming: ESPN+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two polar opposite basketball teams meet today at the Icardo Center in California\u2019s San Joaquin Valley. Hawaii is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,14596],"class_list":{"0":"post-174890","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news","11":"tag-editors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}