Mustangs Head to Anaheim Seeking First NCAA Tournament Appearance
3/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
2014 BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT MEDIA GUIDE (pdf)
VIDEO PREVIEWS: JOE CALLERO | JAMAL JOHNSON
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Chasing the first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in school history, the seventh-seeded Cal Poly men's basketball program opens play at the 39th Big West Conference Tournament against No. 2 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, March 13. Tip time inside the Honda Center in Anaheim is scheduled for 12 noon. Looking to snap a three-game slide, Cal Poly can advance to a third successive Big West Tournament semifinal appearance with a win on Thursday. Cal Poly (10-19) is facing UC Santa Barbara (21-8) at the Big West Tournament for the first time since the Gauchos knocked the Mustangs out of the 2012 competition at the semifinal stage. The Big West Tournament semifinal matchups are set for 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, March 14. With an automatic NCAA Tournament berth hanging in the balance, the Big West Tournament championship game is scheduled for Saturday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. All four quarterfinal matchups will be televised live on Fox Prime Ticket with the semifinals scheduled for ESPN3 and ESPNU and the championship for ESPN2.
HOW TO ENJOY MUSTANG BASKETBALL AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: Tom Barket returns to the headset to provide play-by-play detail for each of Cal Poly's Big West Tournament games on ESPN 1280 in San Luis Obispo County and online at GoPoly.com. Live stats for each tournament game will also be available through GoPoly.com. Fox Prime Ticket will carry all four quarterfinal matchups on Thursday with Friday's 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. semifinal matchups set for ESPNU and ESPN3. Saturday's 7:30 p.m. championship bout will air live on ESPN2.
CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The Mustangs are 7-11 in 11 previous appearances in the Big West Tournament and have advanced as far as the championship game during the 2003 and 2007 editions. Cal Poly's first title game appearance in 2003 resulted in a 57-54 loss against third-seeded Utah State. Seeded second in 2007, Cal Poly trounced Cal State Fullerton during the semifinals (81-56) before falling in the championship versus top-seeded Long Beach State (94-83). Cal Poly has also advanced as far as the semifinals in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2013. Cal Poly's three semifinal losses occurred in 2006, when the fourth-seeded Mustangs fell versus No. 1 Pacific (68-57); 2012, when fourth-seeded Cal Poly dropped a 64-52 decision against No. 2 UC Santa Barbara and last season, when a last-second Pacific shot eliminated third-seeded Cal Poly, 55-53. Overall, Cal Poly is 6-5 during its first tournament game and 2-3 in semifinal matchups.
LOOKING AHEAD: The selection show for the 2014 NCAA Tournament will air on CBS on Sunday, March 16 at 3 p.m. PT. The NCAA Tournament gets underway with the First Four, scheduled for March 18-19 at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The second and third rounds are slated for March 20-23 at eight sites: Buffalo, Milwaukee, Orlando, Spokane, Wash., Raleigh, N.C., San Antonio, San Diego and St. Louis. The regionals will play out March 27-30 at Memphis, Anaheim, New York City and Indianapolis with the Final Four scheduled for April 5 and 7 in Arlington, Texas.
NO BETTER TIME LIKE THE PRESENT: The lowest seed to have ever won the Big West Tournament was San Jose State, which was seeded No. 6 in 1996. The Spartans won three times in three days to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
NO BETTER TIME LIKE THE PRESENT, PART II: Of the eight teams that qualified for the Big West Tournament, three programs – Cal Poly, UC Riverside and UC Irvine – have never appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: The Mustangs and Gauchos didn't meet for 56 days between Cal Poly's 72-64 road victory on Jan. 11 and UC Santa Barbara's 71-55 road triumph on March 8. On Thursday, however, the two programs will face each other just five days apart from the regular season finale and the Big West Tournament opener. UC Santa Barbara – the most frequent opponent in Cal Poly's history – owns both the all-time (63-33) and Division I (29-12) series advantages against the Mustangs.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The Mustangs own a 2-2 mark versus the Gauchos at the Big West Tournament. The two sides last meet in 2012, with UC Santa Barbara knocking out Cal Poly in the semifinals, 64-52. Prior to that, Cal Poly eliminated UC Santa Barbara in the 2006 quarterfinals (57-50) and 2003 semifinals (67-52). The first Big West Tournament meeting between the two programs came in 2002 with the Gauchos eliminating Cal Poly in the first round (74-65).
CAL POLY VERSUS THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: Among the six remaining prospective opponents in the Big West Tournament field, Cal State Northridge ranks as the only program that Cal Poly swept during the 2013-14 regular season. Cal Poly dropped both 2013-14 series games against UC Irvine and Long Beach State and split against Hawai'i, Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside.
STOPPAGE TIME: Cal Poly finished the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons as one of the top-25 defensive teams in Division I and the Mustangs are back to their stifling ways entering the Big West Tournament. Ranked 46th nationally and the Big West leader with just 64.7 points allowed per game, Cal Poly has held an opponent under 65 points in 17 of 29 games this year and in 31 of the past 45 contests dating to the 2012-13 season.
EVERSLEY CAL POLY'S CONSTANT CATALYST: Named to the All-Big West second team on Monday, senior forward Chris Eversley finished the regular season ranked sixth among conference players with 7.3 rebounds per game and 11th with 13.7 points per contest. Also fifth among Big West players with 40 steals, Eversley posted 20 double-digit scoring games during the regular season to up his career total to 54. He also compiled five double-doubles during the 2013-14 season to push his career total to 13. Eversley's season scoring high was a 25-point effort at Stanford (Dec. 29) while his rebounding best was a 15-board haul versus Santa Clara (Dec. 7). Eversley, who has started 60 of Cal Poly's last 63 games dating to the 2011-12 season, has grabbed seven-plus rebounds in a game 16 times this season.
EVERSLEY CONTINUES TO MAKE HISTORY: One of the top all-around competitors in Cal Poly program history, Chris Eversley became the 21st Mustang to reach 1,000 career points after scoring 17 against UC Davis (Jan. 30). Currently 15th all-time with 1,131 points in just three years, Eversley also ranks ninth in program history with 580 rebounds and, for his career, is averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per 93 games as a Mustang.
NWABA TRANSFERS SUCCESS in 2013-14: Ninth among Big West players and ranked 77th in Division I with a 51.1 (117-for-229) percent field goal mark, sophomore wing David Nwaba has shot higher than 70 percent from the floor in nine games this season and enters the Big West Tournament second among Mustangs with 11.7 points per contest. An offseason transfer from Santa Monica College, Nwaba's latest highlight effort was a 20-point, career-best 13-rebound first collegiate double-double at UC Irvine (March 1). This year, Nwaba has scored 22 points against Cal State Dominguez Hills (Dec. 14), 21 points versus Santa Clara (Dec. 7), 17 against Hawai'i (Jan. 9) and at UC Riverside (Jan. 25) and notched 12 in his Cal Poly debut at No. 5/6 Arizona (Nov. 8). Nwaba, who has started 24 of 29 games for Cal Poly this year, has compiled 18 double-digit scoring games.
JOHNSON FORGES THE BULLETS FOR CAL POLY TO FIRE: Solidified by a seven-assist performance against Nevada (Nov. 12) and six versus Hawai'i (Jan. 9), Cal State Northridge (Jan. 16) and at UC Davis (Feb. 27), senior guard Jamal Johnson enters the Big West Tournament ranked third among Big West players in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.38-to-1) and 10th in assists per game (2.79). Johnson also posted a 3.07-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 16 Big West contests and has committed just four turnovers in Cal Poly's last 10 games. Ranked seventh in Cal Poly program history with 290 assists, Johnson owns a career 2.01-to-1 (290-to-144) assist-to-turnover ratio. Offensively, Johnson scored a career-high 15 points against Hawai'i (Jan. 9), added 13 points versus North Dakota (Nov. 29) and 12 at Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 23) to solidify three Cal Poly wins.
ODISTER PROPELS CAL POLY'S LONG-RANGE GAME: Fueled by a season-high 21-point effort at No. 5/6 Arizona (Nov. 8) that included a career-best seven three-pointers, 14-point games versus Cal State Northridge (Jan. 16, Feb. 13) and a 13-point performance at Pitt (Dec. 21), senior guard Kyle Odister enters the Big West Tournament third among Mustangs with 9.5 points per contest. Also fourth among Big West players with 2.30 three-pointers per game and ninth with a 35.6 (53-for-149) percent three-point mark, Odister is a 38.8 (167-for-430) percent career three-point shooter. His 167 career three-pointers and 430 attempts both rank as the sixth–best totals in Mustang program history.
AWICH OUT OF THE STARTING BLOCKS: A starter in 12 of Cal Poly's last 17 games, sophomore forward Joel Awich enters the Big West Tournament ranked fifth among Big West players with 1.11 blocks per game. Already this season, Awich has blocked a career-best four shots against Cal State Northridge (Jan. 16) and added three versus Long Beach State (Jan. 18) and at Pitt (Dec. 21). With a team-leading 31 blocks – the highest total by a Mustang in five years – Awich, in just one-and-a-half collegiate seasons, already ranks eighth in program history with 45 blocks. Offensively, Awich's standout game this year is a career-best 11-point performance at Stanford (Dec. 29).
JOIN CAL POLY MEN'S BASKETBALL, SEE THE WORLD: Few teams, if any, have logged more miles this year than Cal Poly, which enters the Big West Tournament having covered approximately 23,095 miles during the 2013-14 regular season. Cal Poly's schedule has included two trips to the east coast (Pittsburgh, Delaware), one to Hawai'i, games in six different states (including the program's first appearances in Pennsylvania and Delaware) and four first-time opponents (Oregon, Pitt, Delaware and Bethesda).
MUSTANGS FACED ANOTHER TESTING SCHEDULE DURING 2013-14 SEASON: Labeling it the "most prestigious and geographically-challenging schedule that we've ever put together," fifth-year head coach Joe Callero and his Mustangs have already played 11 games this season against programs that qualified for postseason play a year ago.
ETC.: Cal Poly fell to 8-12 in season-opening contests at the Division I level, 2-9 in road season openers and 2-3 in season openers under fifth-year head coach Joe Callero following a 72-63 loss at No. 5 Arizona (Nov. 8) … Cal Poly's season opener at No. 5 Arizona (Nov. 8) came against the highest ranked opponent in Mustang program history … Cal Poly's Nov. 8 matchup at Arizona's McKale Center drew 14,545 spectators, the largest attendance figure for a Mustang men's basketball game since 17,230 fans packed Wisconsin's Kohl Center on Dec. 16, 2009 … Cal Poly's 60-58 loss against Nevada (Nov. 12) snapped a 12-game home winning streak inside the Mott Athletics Center … the 39 points allowed to Bethesda (Nov. 23) were the fewest by a Mustang opponent since Cal Poly topped Pacific at home on March 3, 2012 (67-38) … during the victory against Bethesda, the Flames failed to attempt a free throw – the first time the feat had occurred under Joe Callero … Cal Poly's Nov. 29 contest against North Dakota marked Joe Callero's 400th NCAA game as a head coach … Cal Poly improved to 31-1 against non-Division I opposition and 6-1 under Joe Callero with an 85-49 victory against Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills (Dec. 14) … Cal Poly's 73-56 loss at Pitt (Dec. 21) marked the program's first game in the state of Pennsylvania and just the third overall game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent … Cal Poly's 82-72 loss at Delaware (Jan. 4) marked the program's first game in the state of Delaware … Cal Poly improved to 7-11 all-time in Big West openers, 3-7 in Big West openers at home and 3-2 in Big West openers under Joe Callero following a 77-65 triumph against Hawai'i (Jan. 9) … Cal Poly's 63-62 home loss against Long Beach State (Jan. 18) snapped a program-record 16-game home winning streak against Big West opponents … the 3,032-fan figure for Cal Poly's Feb. 2 home game against UC Irvine marked the first sellout inside the Mott Athletics Center since a Jan. 2, 2012 matchup versus UC Santa Barbara (a streak of 29 home games) … Cal Poly's four-game losing streak inside the Mott Athletics Center (Jan. 18-Feb. 20) was the program's lengthiest since dropping six successive home games from Dec. 28, 2008 to Feb. 18, 2009 … the 13 three-pointers allowed to UC Davis (Feb. 27) were the highest total by a Mustang opponent since Wisconsin sank 13 on Dec. 16, 2009 – a span of 144 games.
