The Warriors will return home for the first time in 2009 and the first time since Dec. 13 to host a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association games. Friday, Sonoma State will visit Warrior Arena. Saturday the Warriors welcome co-CCAA leader Humboldt State to Turlock.

MEDIA COVERAGE
Live stats of the games are available by following the links on WarriorAthletics.com. Live streaming audio broadcast of both contests are available on WarriorAthletics.com and Network1Sports.com. Paul Scheet will do the play-by-play with Thomas Lawrence providing assistance and analysis.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Warriors have not had a home game in more than three weeks, and until last weekend had not even played a game in 20 days. The road has not been kind to the Warriors this season. They are 1-4 away from Warrior Arena, their lone win coming in the season opener at Academy of Art. The four losses are all CCAA games, where the Warriors have averaged 67.2 points per game as a team. At home, the team has scored 84.7 points a game and is 3-1 in four non-conference games. Since joining the CCAA for the 1998-99 season, the Warriors have earned a majority of their total wins each season at home.

MAKING THE CUTTS
Sophomore Casey Cutts had a career weekend for the Warriors in Southern California last week. On Friday versus Cal State San Bernardino, Cutts set career highs in rebounds with six and assists with six. He added five points as well. On Saturday, Cutts went off for six 3-pointers and finished with 19 points to lead the Warriors against Cal Poly Pomona. He was 7-for-12 from beyond the arc in the two games and averaged 12.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. This week Cutts has emerged as the CCAA's best 3-point shooter, making 51.7 percent of his shots from downtown.

SHOOTOUT AT SUNDOWN
Saturday's game between Humboldt State and the Warriors promises to be an offensive smorgasbord with plenty of high-powered offense and an almost non-existent effort on the defensive end. Entering this week, the Lumberjacks are the CCAA's highest-scoring team, averaging 81.2 points per game. They have averaged 75 points in four CCAA games, third-best in the conference. The Warriors are the CCAA's third-best offense with 78.8 points per game. The two teams are at the bottom of the conference in scoring defense. Humboldt has allowed an average of 80 points a game this season. That number falls to 75.3 in CCAA games only, beating out the Warriors who have allowed an average of 83 points in four CCAA games.

START HACKIN'
If the Warriors are looking for a way to beat Sonoma State Friday, they need look no further than the conference team free throw percentage stats. The Seawolves are the worst free throw shooting team in the CCAA, making only 64.9 percent of their chances. Sending them to the line may be the best idea, but don't sleep on the Seawolves just yet. Sonoma State does not find itself in many extremes (leading or losing) of any statistical categories in the conference. In fact, the Seawolves rank in the middle of the pack (No. 5, 6 or 7) in eight of 19 team categories, making it difficult to truly assess their strengths and weaknesses.

COMPLETE “BOARD”OM
An explosion of offense in a basketball can be exciting, but equally frustrating may be a team's lack of ability to rebound the ball. Adding to the already inevitable who-can-score-faster game between the Warriors and Humboldt State Saturday at Warrior Arena, both teams enter the week as the worst rebounding teams in the conference. Humboldt State allows opponents to grab a conference-worst 39.3 rebounds a game. The Warriors are just above them in 10th, allowing 38.0 rebounds a game. On the flip side, the Warriors only get 34.3 rebounds a game, 10th in the CCAA. The Lumberjacks manage to pull down 35.1 balls off the glass each night, just above the Warriors in ninth. The only team worse in rebounding offense is Chico State with 33.0 rebounds a game.

MISSING IN ACTION
It turns out CCAA teams were paying attention early in the season when Junior Matt Ibewiro (pictured right) was putting up double-doubles and scoring seemingly at will. In four CCAA games Ibewiro has not been able to match his early-season numbers. In five non-conference games Ibewiro averaged 17.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He also had 10 total steals in those games. Through four CCAA games, Ibewiro has only averaged 7.8 points and 7.3 rebounds a game, and has only accumulated three total steals.

HEAD COACH KEITH LARSEN
Keith Larsen is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Warriors. He is the ninth head coach in the history of CSUS men's basketball. Since 2003, Larsen has posted a record of 52-94, including a 14-13 season in 2005-06, the program's first winning season since 2002-03. The 2005-06 team finished as one of the hottest teams in the region, posting a 9-2 record (with nine wins out of 10 during the stretch) to finish the season … Prior to joining CSUS, Larsen was the head coach at Menlo College where he posted a 81-68 record in six seasons and led the Oaks to two conference championships … He has also worked under Mike Montgomery as an assistant at Stanford (1992-97) and Bob Williams at Menlo (1987-98) … Larsen is a 1985 graduate of San Francisco State.

WARRIOR SPORTS NETWORK
Paul Scheet returns for another season as the Warriors' play-by-play announcer and will cover all home games as well as selected road games this season. The broadcasts are available on the Internet on WarriorAthletics.com and Network1Sports.com. In addition, many games will be simulcast on Cal State Stanislaus' student radio station, KCSS 91.9 FM with student Mike Maddox assisting Scheet with play-by-play and analysis duties. Check WarriorAthletics.com for more information and for a broadcast schedule.

WARRIORS ON THE WEB
Check out the Warriors men's basketball team on the web at WarriorAthletics.com — the official website of Warrior Athletics. Visitors can browse player profiles, read game results and statistics, as well as subscribe to the Warriors SMS text messaging updates. The website was newly redesigned this summer through a partnership with Internet Consulting Services.

CCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The CCAA men's and women's basketball championships tournament will return to San Bernardino in March with the top eight teams to qualify for the conference's postseason tournament. The first round games will be played on Tuesday, March 3 on campus sites of the top four seeds. The semifinals and finals will be played on March 6-7 at Cal State San Bernardino's Coussoulis Arena. The winner of the tournament would receive the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
SONOMA STATE SEAWOLVES
Record: 5-6, 1-3 CCAA
Head Coach: Pat Fuscaldo, 15th year

Notes: The Seawolves won their first CCAA game of the season Saturday with an 80-68 win over San Francisco State … James Sandoval leads the Seawolves in scoring with 11.8 points per game … The team is the worst free throw shooting team in the conference, making 64.9 percent of its chances … Keith Garner is the fourth-best shooter in the CCAA with a 54.8 field goal percentage.

CCAA Series Record (Since 1998): Sonoma State leads 13-7. The teams have split their two regular season matchups in seven of the last 10 years.

Last Meeting with CSUS: Feb. 23, 2008, Warrior Arena, Cal State Stanislaus 78, Sonoma State 75.

HUMBOLDT STATE LUMBERJACKS
Record: 10-4, 3-1 CCAA
Head Coach: Tom Wood, 28th year

Notes: The Lumberjacks are tied for first place in the CCAA after a 77-71 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday … Humboldt State leads the CCAA in team scoring with 81.2 points per game … The Lumberjacks are the worst scoring defense team in the conference, allowing 80.0 points a game … Zac Tiedeman leads Humboldt State in scoring with 12.7 ppg … Ernie Spada leads the CCAA in 3-pointers made, averaging 2.4 a game.

CCAA Series Record (Since 1998): Humboldt State leads 5-0. Humboldt State joined the CCAA in 2006-07.

Last Meeting with CSUS: Feb. 22, 2008, Warrior Arena, Humboldt State 118, Cal State Stanislaus 85.