By Ray Hamill — It’s been a challenging season for the Cal Poly Humboldt men’s basketball team in more ways than one.
But the Jacks have been competitive, they are building some interest within the local community and they’re still hoping for a breakthrough campaign this winter, as they look to secure their first winning record since 2018/19.
The biggest challenge for the team has been at the defensive end, and the team is allowing 79.2 points a game in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, including 82.8 points a game in their six conference losses.
“I’m shocked at our inability to defend,” head coach Chris Tifft said. “And that’s something we need to get corrected as soon as possible.”
It’s also something that has led to a disappointing 3-6 record in conference games (7-7 overall), as the team gets set to play at Cal State San Marcos on Saturday.
But despite those defensive frailties, the Jacks have had opportunities to win in most of their games and all but two of their losses have come by single digits.
“We’re competitive. We’ve got a good group of guys. Our roster is talented,” Tifft added. “We’re just having a hard time stopping our opponents. We just haven’t been able to find the ability to defend like we need to to win games.”
The defense hasn’t been the only challenge for the team and for Tifft, who is in his second year with the Jacks.
He was hired late in the offseason during the summer of 2023 and had limited time to prepare for his first season in charge, which saw the Jacks finish a disappointing 6-21.
Having a full offseason to prepare for this campaign should have made things easier, but with the new transfer portal rules impacting the roster, the Jacks returned just five players this year and feature a squad that includes nine new faces.
Compare that to unbeaten conference leaders Chico State and Cal State Dominguez Hills, each of whom returned the majority of their players and are 9-0 in CCAA action, and you see the impact the transfer portal can have on a program.
“It’s challenging,” Tifft said. “If you look at the best teams in our conference, they have returning players and they’re the teams that are undefeated in conference, and that’s a big part of it.
“It just takes a little more time. The portal has been very challenging. We need to get good young players and find a way to keep them.”
The good news for the program is that eight of the 14 players on this year’s roster are freshmen (six) and sophomores (two), so they have the foundation in place to build that necessary team chemistry and cohesion in the coming years if the players buy into what Tifft and assistant coach Brandon Billups are selling.
And the coach believes the players are enjoying their time with the program.
“I think our guys do a good job of playing for Humboldt and playing for each other,” Tifft said. “We have a lot of new faces, and with as many as we have I think our guys are doing a good job. We’re talented but young.”
Three of the five leading scorers on the team are freshmen, one is a sophomore and one is a junior, so the pieces are definitely in place for a potentially successful run over the next few years.
Tifft and his players also play an entertaining brand of ball and the local community appears to be noticing, with some good crowds showing up at the home games once again to check out the best basketball in the area after lackluster support in recent years.
Check out some highlights below from last Saturday’s game at Cal Poly Humboldt …
“I like the pace at which we play,” Tifft said. “We play a little bit faster than we did last year. I think our guys are unselfish and I think there’s great camaraderie.
“We have multiple options in terms of being able to score.”
Tifft also appreciates the fan base.
“The support’s been great,” he said. “I think people want to see us have a winner. Humboldt’s got great history, great tradition.”
After dropping two straight games, including an 89-78 loss at Sonoma State on Thursday night, the Jacks will try to get back to winning ways when they play at Cal State San Marcos on Saturday afternoon.
And there’s still plenty to play for in what is shaping up to be a top-heavy conference this year, with Chico and Dominguez Hills four wins ahead of the chasing pack less than halfway through the CCAA schedule.
The Jacks currently sit 10th out of 12 teams in the conference standings, but remarkably they are just two wins out of third place and could make a big jump if they can string together a few consecutive victories.
And with 13 conference games still remaining, there’s plenty of time for that.
“I would just like to see us get better and better,” Tifft said. “And I would like to see us finish above .500 for the first time (since 2019).
“We’ve had some close games, and I told the guys if we can find five points a game, we’d be able to get out of this slump.
“It’s a minimal amount of points, but it would make a big difference.”
That, hopefully for the team, could begin on Saturday as the Jacks take on a San Marcos team that sits bottom of the conference standings with a record of 1-7 (1-13 overall).
But Tifft isn’t taking anything for granted.
“They’ve been struggling, but they’re always dangerous,” the head coach said.
