10-17, 6-8BWC
UC Davis
9-19, 4-9BWC
Three-Point Shooting Dooms Cal Poly in 85-73 Loss at UC Davis
2/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME REACTION: JOE CALLERO
DAVIS, Calif. – Senior forward Chris Eversley (right) chalked up his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program conceded 13 three-pointers to UC Davis – the highest total by a Mustang opponent in 144 games – and dropped an 85-73 decision to the Aggies inside The Pavilion on Thursday evening.
Sophomore wing David Nwaba added 12 points for Cal Poly (6-8, 10-17), which allowed a 54.2 (13-for-24) percent three-point mark to UC Davis (9-19, 4-9) and the highest single-game total by a Mustang foe since Wisconsin also sank 13 on Dec. 16, 2009. Junior guard Maliik Love matched a season high with 10 points and sophomore guard Reese Morgan – in just his fourth appearance of the season – finished with the same total for Cal Poly, which committed just eight turnovers, but shot 41.7 (25-for-60) percent from the floor and 29.4 (5-for-17) percent from three-point range.
Despite the loss, Cal Poly remained in fifth place in the Big West Conference standings alongside Cal State Northridge (14-16, 6-8), which dropped an 82-81 decision at Cal State Fullerton (5-8, 10-17) earlier Thursday.
Cal Poly completes a two-game road trip when visiting Big West-leading UC Irvine on Saturday, March 1 in a nationally-televised ESPNU matchup. Tip time inside the Bren Events Center is 8 p.m. The Anteaters (19-10, 10-3) relegated UC Santa Barbara (18-8, 9-4) to second place in the Big West standings with a 71-60 triumph on Thursday.
Courtesy of two three-pointers apiece from senior guard Ryan Sypkens and freshman forward Georgi Funtarov, UC Davis leapt out to a 24-13 lead after 12 minutes. With 11 of their first 20 shot attempts from three-point range, the Aggies opened the game by shooting 54.5 (6-for-11) percent from beyond the arc.
An Nwaba layup brought the Mustangs to within a 10-point deficit at 26-16 with five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Aggies – who finished with nine three-pointers in the first half – hit three more down the stretch to go up 37-25 at the break.
The Mustangs quickly exercised the momentum to open the second half with Love scoring five of his side's first seven points to bring Cal Poly to within a 40-34 deficit with 17 minutes remaining.
Three-point shooting by UC Davis, however, kept the Mustangs at bay. Funtarov followed with his fourth of the night to put UC Davis up nine. With Cal Poly facing a 49-40 deficit and 14 minutes left, the Aggies received a lay-in from junior guard Corey Hawkins before Sypkens hit his fourth three-pointer of the night to cement another Aggie double-digit advantage.
The Aggies, who sank their first four three-point attempts of the second half, then delivered a 9-3 run during a three-minute span to snatch a 63-43 lead with nine-and-a-half to play.
Cal Poly closed to within single digits of the UC Davis lead just once more with an Eversley three-pointer slicing the Aggie lead to 80-72 with 39 seconds to play.
