11-11 (7-5BWC)
UC Davis
9-13 (5-6BWC)
Royer's Career-High 20 Points Leads Cal Poly Past UC Davis
2/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME HIGHLIGHTS (video)
POSTGAME REACTION: JOE CALLERO | DYLAN ROYER | BRIAN BENNETT
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Senior guard Dylan Royer scored a career-high 20 points, matching another career high with six three-pointers, as Cal Poly extended its conference home winning streak to 11 games with a 68-53 Big West men's basketball victory over UC Davis on Saturday night before a season-high crowd of 2,600 inside the Mott Athletics Center.
Freshman guard Reese Morgan added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, matching his career high in the latter, as the Mustangs evened their overall record at 11-11 and improved to 7-5 in Big West games. Cal Poly is 9-1 at home and 2-10 on the road, including a win at UCLA on Nov. 25, this season.
UC Davis, led by junior guard Ryan Sypkens with 17 points and sophomore guard Corey Hawkins with 16, fell to 9-13 and 5-6. Cal Poly avenged a 69-67 loss to the Aggies on Jan. 10 on a buzzer-beater by Hawkins.
UC Davis scored the first four points of the game and led 7-5 before Cal Poly went on a 10-0 run to turn the game around. Royer hit the second of his six first-half three-pointers to give the Mustangs an 8-7 lead with 15:07 to go and Cal Poly never trailed after that.
A 13-0 Mustang run later in the first half gave Cal Poly a 28-10 advantage with 5:55 to go and the Mustangs settled for a 37-20 lead at the break.
Cal Poly led by as many as 20 points in the second half and UC Davis could get no closer than 11 points down the stretch. The Mustangs turned the ball over just twice in the second half and committed seven miscues for the game.
Royer (pictured above) scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half, sinking six of eight three-pointers, and surpassed his previous career high with two free throws with 50 seconds remaining in the game.
UC Davis was held to 20 points in the first half, the lowest total by a Mustang Division I opponent this season. Cal Poly's seven blocked shots -- two each by Royer and junior guard Kyle Odister -- are a season high.
The win leaves Cal Poly in fourth place in the Big West.
The Mustangs made 46 percent of their floor shots, including 10 of 24 from three-point range, while UC Davis connected on just 37.5 percent, six of 20 from beyond the arc. The Aggies were five of 12 from the free-throw line compared to Cal Poly's 14 of 19.
Cal Poly outrebounded the Aggies 36-32. In addition to the eight boards by Morgan, five other Mustangs grabbed four rebounds. Senior guard Ryan Howley corraled 11 rebounds for UC Davis and Hawkins added seven.
Cal Poly concludes a three-game home stand Saturday, Feb. 16, with a 7 p.m. matchup against Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara inside the Mott Athletics Center.
