After starting the season 0-2, the Wildcats have rattled off seven straight wins and 19 straight home victories as they defeated the California State University at Bakersfield Roadrunners on Wednesday, 69-59.
First-year head coach Brette Tanner has now defeated two prestigious mid-major programs in Drexel and CSU-Bakersfield in back-to-back games. Drexel was predicted to finish third in the Colonial Athletic Association while CSU-Bakersfield was predicted to finish fifth in the Big West Conference.
“We’re just validating ourselves to everybody,” Tanner said. “There’s a lot of newness but that’s over, that’s behind us now. We’re not talking about the past anymore, this is this team. These guys have proven that they belong on the college basketball landscape and if we keep playing the way we are, we’re going to have a chance.”
The Wildcats forced a Roadrunner season-high 25 turnovers while having 20 of their own and shot 30-40 from the free-throw line to secure the win.
“Even in our Power Five games, nobody has defended us like that,” Tanner said. “That is a top-notch defensive team and one of the best defensive teams in the country and we talked about that. I told my team we were going to force 25 turnovers. That’s what won us the game.”
Tanner and the Wildcats scored 22 fast-break points compared to the seven fast-break points scored by the Roadrunners to keep the game off balance in the ten-point Wildcat win.
“I wish I could take credit for everything that’s going on right now, but it is them [the players],” Tanner said. “I’ve said it before but coaches are overrated. Those players and the leadership we have, they’re the ones grabbing guys and telling them ‘we got this’ and telling them we’re going to win the game. That’s what makes this a special group.”
Despite the ten-point win, Tanner and his team trailed for over five minutes with five lead changes in the first half, the longest his team has trailed at home all season.
“We needed that, especially here at home,” Tanner said. “We needed to have an opportunity to scratch and claw and fight from behind for a little bit. I felt like we had a 15 point lead and we’re up by six. They just would not go away.”
Redshirt junior guard Immanuel Allen set a new career-high and led the Wildcats with 16 points while senior guard Mahki Morris secured three steals and eight points against the Roadrunners.
“All week we talked about how it was going to be a dog fight,” Morris said. “Every day we just go on the court knowing the hardest playing team on the court is always going to win. You don’t win the games at the games, you win at the practices throughout the week.”
This was the first of two doubleheaders for the men’s and women’s basketball programs as the Wildcats play their second doubleheader this Sunday.
“It gives our guys a chance to watch them [the women’s team] and support them and it gives those girls a chance to support us,” Tanner said. “We see each other every day and we never get to see each other play so it was fun tonight to do that.”
Coach Tanner and the Wildcats (7-2) host the Div. III Howard Payne Yellow Jackets (3-7) on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Teague Special Events Center and streaming live on ESPN+.
