`Runners to Play Three Road Games in Six Days

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After a brief stop at home, the CSU Bakersfield men's basketball team will head back out to start its final road trip of the season. The Roadrunners will play three Big West Conference road games over the next six games with visits planned to all three of California's main regions.

On Thursday, Feb. 17, CSUB will take on UC Riverside in Southern California before heading north for Saturday's matchup against UC Davis. Tipoff on Thursday is set for 7 p.m. (PT) while the `Runners and Aggies will begin play at 5 p.m. on Saturday. On Tuesday, Feb. 22, CSUB well head to the Central Coast to take on Cal Poly with another 7 p.m. tipoff scheduled.

"I think we're doing some things well, but the inconsistency has been our issue," said Rod Barnes, Head Coach of the `Runners. Barnes also stressed a lack of focus and urgency as contributing to the team's recent losses, but he also maintains optimism for the final six games of the regular season.

UC Riverside (12-9, 5-4 Big West) will welcome CSUB to Riverside after dropping a pair of road games last weekend. Last month, the Highlanders came to Bakersfield and narrowly defeated the `Runners, 65-64, in the Icardo Center. With UCR being CSUB's most familiar foe in program history, the two teams will be meeting for the 78th time in the all-time series. The Highlanders boast a 45-32 record against the `Runners in that series.

UC Davis (10-7, 3-3 Big West) will be returning to action against CSUB after canceling its previous three games due to COVID-19 protocols. The Aggies had momentum with a pair of wins at the start of February, but they will have to get things going again when CSUB rolls into town.

CSUB and UC Davis had their Jan. 13 game canceled due to COVID protocols within the CSUB program. The two teams' struggles to play each other also stems back to last season when COVID issues caused the cancelation of both regular season games. The one time the `Runners and Aggies did meet last season ended up being in the first round of the Big West Championship; UC Davis hit a last-second shot to send CSUB home early from Las Vegas with a 58-56 victory.

Cal Poly (5-17, 1-9 Big West) is looking to snap a five-game skid, but each of the Mustangs' last two games were close losses. Cal Poly dropped a double-overtime game against CSUN on Feb. 10 before falling to UC Santa Barbara, 69-64.

The `Runners and Mustangs will be playing the 63rd game in the all-time series next week. Including a 73-60 win last month, CSUB has won seven-straight contests against Cal Poly and the `Runners own an all-time record of 37-25 over the Mustangs.

Both of this week's road contests will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can also follow along with radio broadcasts from courtside with links to all broadcasts, live stats, tickets, and more available at GoRunners.com/Live.

~GoRunners.com~

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