BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield men's basketball team will look to keep their winning ways going when CSUB hits the road this week for two big Western Athletic Conference games.
 
First up? New Mexico State on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. Bakersfield time.  The Aggies are sitting a top the WAC standings with an undefeated record of 7-0 in the conference, 20-3 overall and are the winners of nine in a row.  NMSU is getting top 25 votes in every national major poll and college hoops expert, Seth Davis, has the Aggies ranked No. 24 in his poll. 
 
NMSU is led in scoring by Zach Lofton and his 20.5 points per game and Jemerrio Jones is averaging a double double, 10 points and 12 rebounds a game.  Back on Jan. 13, the `Runners fell to NMSU in a hard fought game at home, 66-53 behind Lofton's game high 28 points.
 
The `Runners will then head to Edinburg, TX for a game against WAC rival UTRGV on Saturday, Feb. 10 with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. Bakersfield time.  UTRGV is 12-12 overall and are in fifth place in the WAC with a 3-4 record, only a half game in front of CSUB. 
 
UTRGV defeated the 'Runners in Bakersfield 87-74 back on Jan. 11 behind a game high 21 points from Nick Dixon.  Dixon is the leading scorer for UTRGV and ironically, is averaging 21 points a game. 
 
CSUB Men's Head Coach Rod Barnes said, "This is always a tough trip for us for several reasons.  But NMSU is playing very well.  They're an older team and an experienced team.  They are well coached and a deep team."
 
Coach Barnes went on to talk about UTRGV.  "Then going down to Rio Grande Valley, they beat us here and gave us a lot of trouble with their press.  We've got our work cut out for us this week, but we are looking forward to the opportunity to play two good teams."
 
The `Runners have won two in a row and three of their last four to get back in the WAC race with a 3-5 conference record (after starting 0-4) and are now 10-13 overall. 
 
CSUB is getting contributions from every player up and down the roster night in and night out and this is a completely different team than they were a month ago, maybe even two weeks ago.  The `Runners defensive intensity has really jumped up another level since this little run of wins and have really taken on the look of what most Coach Barnes teams look like.
 
Coach Barnes also announced that Shon Briggs is out for at least this weekend and the senior will have to go back to the doctor to have his foot re-examined to see how long he will be on the sidelines.  "Shon is a big part of what we've done and what we've accomplished so far this season,"  Barnes added.
 
After this week's games, the `Runners will have four games remaining in conference play to continue to improve on their seeding for the WAC tournament Mar. 8-10.