After snapping their 13-game winning streak in a heavy-weight battle with undefeated conference foe Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Wildcats bounced back with their second-highest-scoring game of the season, beating Cal State LA 95-86.
The Wildcats welcomed back four of their biggest contributors, including leading scorer Jojo Murphy, along with three other starters: Trae Taylor, Caden Harris and Miles Daniels Murphy, Taylor and Harris were out for “disciplinary reasons” on Thursday, but returned emphatically in Saturday’s win.
Murphy scored a season-high 31 points, while the four other starters reached double figures. Taylor, the starting center, added 16 points, six rebounds and two crucial blocks down the stretch of the game.
“It was very tough watching that Dominguez game and being unable to go out there and help my teammates, and all of us felt the same way,” Taylor said. “We were saying it on Thursday that when we get the chance to play again, it’s gonna be war for whoever’s in front of us.”
Golden Eagles guard Domonic Escobar carried the offense, scoring nine of his team’s first 11 points and finishing with a team-high 23 points. While the Wildcats kept pace, guard Murphy recognized the need for defensive improvement.
“We were basically trading buckets with them in the first half,” Murphy said. “We knew we had to hang our hat on defense, trading buckets isn’t a recipe to win and we knew we had to up our physicality in the second half.’
The Wildcats opened the second half with a quick transition scoring run, extending their lead to 15 points. This surge, combined with a dominant performance in the paint where they outscored the Golden Eagles 44-28, and outrebounded them 33-24, were two major swings in the game.
Head Coach Cevin Meador credited his guards as well as the front line for controlling the paint against the Golden Eagles.
“When you have four perimeter players who can all pass and dribble, it creates a lot of space,” Meador said. “This allows our guards to drive to the basket, leading to easy layups, dunks or lobs like the ones we threw to Trey Taylor today.”
While the Wildcats enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the second half, The Golden Eagles began full court pressing the Wildcats, forcing turnovers and eventually dwindling the lead to only four at the 2 minute mark.
Meador stressed the importance of how the Wildcats adjusted to the pressure and allowed them to keep the lead to the final buzzer.
“We stopped dribbling as much, and then we made that pass,” Meador said. “And then that’s where we were able to get those transition opportunities or just get across half court, and then we were able to run time and close the game out.”
Wildcats starters combined for 91 of the team’s 95 points and kept a tight rotation with only 15 combined minutes from their bench. While the three suspended players along with Daniels who was injured combined for 75 points, Coach Meador acknowledged how the players dealt with being disciplined
“They were great teammates, they were coaching up the guys,” Meador said. “But, really, those guys were very mature, and they were really good teammates and had great attitudes.”
With Saturday’s win, Chico remains tied at the top of the conference with an 11-1 conference record. Dominguez Hills fell to Cal Poly Humboldt on Saturday and ended their 11-game conference winning streak, making the Toro’s and Wildcat’s Feb. 22 matchup in Carson a vital game to take the conference.
The Wildcats will be back at home on Feb. 6 to face Stanislaus State at Acker Gymnasium. Home games are free for students who bring their student ID or show their Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
JJ Fain can be reached at [email protected].