CSUB faces Utah Valley tonight in men's basketball
| Monday, Nov 16 2009 11:05 PM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 16 2009 11:06 PM
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Utah Valley at CSUB
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
Where: Rabobank Arena
Records: CSUB 0-1, Utah Valley 1-0
Radio: AM 1180
TV: Brighthouse Ch. 21
Series: Tied 2-2
Notes: CSUB lost its season opener at home to Santa Clara Friday, 84-81. Utah Valley beat North Dakota State, the defending Summit League champion, 80-72. Senior guard-forward Jordan Swarbrick had 20 points and junior forward Justin Baker had 19 points vs. NDSU. ... CSUB swept Utah Valley last season with Trent Blakley averaging 17.5 ppg in those games. ... Utah Valley is one year ahead of CSUB in its transition to Division I, meaning the Wolverines are full D-1 members this year and postseason eligible. Utah Valley is in its first season in the Great West Conference, which consists of former Division I independent basketball programs. CSUB declined an invitation to join that conference, which does not have an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.
Images:
Michael Fagans / The Californian CSUB's Bryan Emanuel tries to stop Santa Clara's Robert Smith from getting into the paint during the first half of their game at Rabobank Arena on Friday night in Bakersfield.
Anyone wanting to see the Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball team play at home should do it tonight. Otherwise it'll be a month before you can see them again in Bakersfield.
The Roadrunners (0-1), who have only 11 home dates this season, play host to Utah Valley University (1-0) tonight at 7 in Rabobank Arena.
CSUB begins a stretch of five straight road games Friday night at UCLA. After tonight, the next home game is Dec. 16 vs. Utah State, an NCAA Tournament team last season.
Having 11 home games and 18 on the road is the nature of the beast when you're an independent program, CSUB coach Keith Brown said.
"We have a lot more home games in January and February that we've had in the past, which is ultimately the time you'd like to be playing at home," Brown said.
CSUB has four home dates in January and three in February.
Having eight road games from late November through December has one advantage: CSUB has final exams early next week, then doesn't have classes until January. So the travel has zero impact on academics.
"With our academic calendar the way it is, if you're going to travel, December is the best month to do it," Brown said.
At least six of this season's road games are so-called money or guarantee games -- games where the opponent guarantees a cash amount to CSUB to go there and play.
Brown added two guarantee games -- and relinquished two home dates -- to help bring in additional money to the CSUB athletic department. CSUB, like virtually every public entity in the state, faced a huge budget cut this year and is looking for ways to minimize the financial damage.
"When the budget information hit in June, in terms of where the state was and where the funding was, we were in a position to take some more (guarantee) games and generate more revenue, which we did," Brown said.
Last year, an estimated $240,000 was generated from these guarantee games. Brown said it's too early to know what will be generated this year, but he said he expects it to be a "sizable amount" of what CSUB athletics needs to get out of the red.
"I don't think we'll know until we get to the end of the fiscal year," Brown said. "Then you look at your budget, you look at the 18 games you had on the road. ... You pay for travel, so you're travel budget more (with 18 road games rather than 16).
Putting together a schedule is still the most time consuming aspect of Brown's job, he said. Schedules are usually finalized late because conferences must determine bye weeks and TV commitments.
