The Chico State Wildcats men’s basketball team bounced back with a 68-43 victory over the Pacific Union Pioneers on Saturday, raising its record to 3-4.
With a loud crowd and the school band supporting them, the ‘Cats jumped out to an early lead and didn’t trail once as they earned the victory in the physical match.
Leading scorer Chris Holley set the tone for the ‘Cats, scoring 14 with five assists, showcasing his ability to score for himself and create opportunities for his teammates as well.
In the first half, the ‘’Cats were a little messy, giving up six turnovers and committing nine fouls, putting the Pioneers in the bonus. Freshman guard Amon Andrews explained the adjustments the ‘Cats made during halftime to clean up the mistakes.
“It really wasn’t even about the opponent; it was about us holding ourselves back,” Andrews said. “We just needed to come together as a team, a lot of the stuff comes from not playing solid physical defense, communication issues and other little things. Us coming together and really buying in was the biggest thing. I think we did that efficiently.”
With that mindset, the ‘Cats played a much better second half, keeping themselves in control while holding the lead steady.
Freshman guard Tommy Williams, who scored a career-best five points, also touched on how the ‘Cats improved in the second half.
“It all comes together when we start trusting each other,” Williams said. “We have a super talented group of guys that play really hard. The second we start trusting and having faith in each other to make the right play, we’re an unstoppable team.”
Only called for six fouls, including a technical foul, the ‘Cats played physical defense without awarding bonus free throws in an improvement from the first half.
Andrews took control in the second half, efficiently driving to the basket to create opportunities for himself to score, ending the night with eight points. He was also a defensive spark for the ‘Cats, locking down the Pioneers’ best scorer and inducing two offensive fouls and a technical foul.
“We let ourselves loose a little bit, playing the way we know how to play, things will go your way when you do the right things,” Andrews said. “It’s a lot of energy controlling the controllable, running the floor and giving all our effort to the max. Once everybody starts flowing though, it’s easy to get going, then the energy starts sparking, and we take it away from there.”
With that, the ‘Cats had a decent offensive performance, shooting 33.3% from the field and 62.5% from the free-throw line. The bench also stepped up, scoring 34 points in comparison to 16 for the Pioneers.
The ‘Cats excelled in capitalizing on the Pioneers’ errors, scoring 12 fast break points and 21 points off turnovers.
“I’m appreciative of any opportunity; it was great to be able to get out there and put shots up for the team,” Williams said. “We just have to keep focusing on ourselves and keep getting better. We have a good group of guys who always try and get everyone involved in the scoring every game.”
The ‘Cats play next at The Kelp Bed on Dec. 19 against the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters at 7:30 p.m.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Aiyana Curry can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
