Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Of the three Division I men's basketball programs that accepted offers to play at Sapp Fieldhouse this season, Cal State-Bakersfield — on paper — might be the most impressive.
"They look good on film, too," University of Nebraska at Omaha coach Derrin Hansen said. "We'll have our hands full."
The Roadrunners have size in the starting lineup (Adam Young is 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, Rashad Savage is 6-6 and 220) and in reserve (Mo Hughley is 6-7 and 240, Donald Johnson 6-8 and 215).
They have scoring balance among starting guards Stephon Carter, Issiah Grayson and Zach Lamb, all of whom shoot between 44.4 and 39.3 percent from 3-point range.
Two of their most productive players come off the bench in Johnson (9.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 18 of 36 from 3) and 6-7 wing Tyrone White (7.8 points, team-high 43 3s).
They've got a former national coach of the year directing the program in Rod Barnes, who took Mississippi to three NCAA tournaments, including the Sweet 16 in 2001.
What they don't have — in their sixth season of Division I basketball — is a conference.
So while the Mavericks and Roadrunners were a natural scheduling match this season (UNO plays at Bakersfield on Feb. 25), UNO won't be scrambling to find opponents quite as much next season when it begins playing a full Summit League schedule.
Sunday's 2 p.m. game at Sapp Fieldhouse, though not UNO's final home game of the season, will stand as Senior Night for high-scoring Mitch Albers, who still has a chance at the school's all-time scoring record, and workmanlike backup center John Ring.
The Mavs' final home game is Wednesday against the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The other Division I teams to have played at UNO this year are Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (ranked No. 275) and Western Illinois (No. 204). The Mavs couldn't hold on to a 15-point second-half lead and lost to IPFW 83-80 in overtime on Dec. 10, then just couldn't keep pace with a solid Western Illinois unit in losing 81-70 on Jan. 24.
"They're different than the other teams we've played here in that they're going to try to play faster," Hansen said. "Their overall athleticism is probably better. They're not as position-specific as those teams were — they can all do a lot of different things. They're going to try to force steals, we're going to have to keep them off the offensive glass and they can shoot the 3.
"They come at you in a lot of ways."
Other CSU-Bakersfield programs are affiliate members of the Pac-12 (wrestling), West Coast, Great West, Western Athletic conferences and several others are in sport-specific leagues. The Roadrunners' men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball teams are still independent.
The lack of a league may be part of the reason that CSU-Bakersfield, at 12-13 overall, is ranked only No. 239 (through Friday) out of 344 Division I teams in realtimerpi.com. The Roadrunners' strength of schedule is No. 300.
Their best wins are a sweep of No. 166 Cal State Fullerton, and they just missed two top-100 upsets, losing 70-64 at No. 68 Colorado in December and 73-72 at home against No. 82 New Mexico State in early January.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com
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