The Chico State men's basketball team lost their season opener at the Division II Tip-Off Classic in Ellensburg, Washington on Friday night 78-69.

     Coming off a disappointing 8-19 season the Wildcats were hoping to christen the 2026-27 with a win, but some familiar issues reared their ugly head.

     Chico committed eight turnovers in the first half which led to twleve CWU points. The Wildcats of Chico State also had trouble defending the three as their rotations out of set pieces were a tick slow and the Wildcats of Central Washington was able to knock down 11-for-25 from long distance.

     Chico found themselves down 41-23 late in the 1st half but close the first stanza on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit down to thirteen. Chico would eventually cut the Central lead to 45-37 before the hosts would counter and never be threatened the rest of the night.

     It was fantastic debut for Dominican University transfer Senior Michael Wilson who scored a game high 23 on 8-of-13 shooting and 5-of-8 from three-point range. Donjae Lindsey, a Stanislaus State tranfer, chipped in 9 points in his Wildcat debut.

     Jalen Childs came of the bench to score a team-high 20 for Central going 7-of-9 from the field.

     Chico outscored Central 32-20 in the paint but was outscored 36-26 in bench points. 

     This tip-off classic involves six teams with three men's match-ups each day. It won't take long for the Wildcats to turn the page. Chico will play Montana State-Billings on Saturday morning at 11am. You can hear the game on KpaySports 1290 & 102.9 FM as well as the KpaySports app.