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TazeMooreNE02
Nick Ellis

Men's Basketball

`Runners to Face Ole Miss in Familiar Setting



BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A road trip to the South this weekend offers an exciting opportunity to play close to home for several members of the CSU Bakersfield men's basketball team. The Roadrunners are preparing for a tough matchup with a solid Ole Miss squad on Saturday, Dec. 7, and they will enjoy a large group of family and friends rooting for them in Oxford, Miss.

Three current `Runners have roots in the South with redshirt junior Taze Moore hailing from Southaven, Miss., just over an hour away from Oxford. Moore excitedly anticipates playing in front of a large cheering section on Saturday. Cam Allen (Greenville, S.C.) and Czar Perry (El Dorado, Ark.) also grew up not too far from Mississippi.

The `Runner with the closest connections to Ole Miss is Head Coach Rod Barnes. A 1988 graduate of the university, Barnes is also a native of Mississippi, growing up just a couple hours away from Oxford. As a guard for the Rebels, Barnes earned All-Southeastern Conference honors during his playing career. He went on to become Head Coach at Ole Miss and led the Rebels to the 2001 Sweet Sixteen on his way to earning Naismith National Coach of the Year.

When asked about the trip home, Barnes quickly established his focus: "As I told our players, this was never about me. We picked the game because we had some guys from the South. We wanted to get them a game close to home; it just happened to be my alma mater decided they would play us. We don't want to get too worked up about it. We get an opportunity to play an SEC school, something we haven't done with our program yet, and we get a great opportunity to do that Saturday night." Barnes also stated he could possibly develop some nervous butterflies as the game approaches.

While the opportunity to compete in a familiar setting is an added bonus for the `Runners, CSUB has set its focus on claiming a win against its SEC opponent. Ole Miss (5-3) will welcome Bakersfield to The Pavilion after a nine-point loss against No. 24 Butler on Tuesday. The Rebels' other two losses this season were against No. 16 Memphis and Oklahoma State.

The `Runners (4-6) are coming off a tough loss of their own, dropping a back and forth battle against future Big West Conference foe UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday. Despite the defeat, the `Runners have played solid basketball the past three games and will continue to rely on rebounding and defensive effort to give them an advantage against their opponents. CSUB boasts the 12th-best rebounding margin in the country at +10.3 while Bakersfield's last three opponents have averaged just 60 points per game.

A 1 p.m. (CT) tipoff will start Saturday's contest between the `Runners and Rebels. The game will be broadcasted live on the SEC Network+, part of the ESPN family of networks. Fans can watch live or listen in on the CSUB radio broadcast via 1230 AM/101.1 FM ESPN. Links to the live stream, radio broadcast, live stats, and tickets are all available on the CSUB men's basketball schedule page.

~GoRunners.com~
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Players Mentioned

Taze Moore

#4 Taze Moore

F
6' 5"
Redshirt Junior
Cam Allen

#3 Cam Allen

G
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Czar Perry

#5 Czar Perry

G
6' 2"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Taze Moore

#4 Taze Moore

6' 5"
Redshirt Junior
F
Cam Allen

#3 Cam Allen

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
G
Czar Perry

#5 Czar Perry

6' 2"
Junior
G
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