0-2
Arizona State
2-0
Second-Half Arizona State Surge Sends Cal Poly to Defeat
11/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TEMPE, Ariz. – Senior guard Kyle Toth (above) knocked down five three-pointers to finish with a career high 21 points, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program was outscored by 25 points by Arizona State during Sunday's final 15-and-a-half minutes and fell inside Wells Fargo Arena, 96-74.
Junior forward Josh Martin matched a career high with 17 points and sophomore guard Jaylen Shead scored a season high 11 for Cal Poly, which knocked down 12 three-pointers, shot 50.0 (15-for-30) percent from the floor in the first half and led 51-48 with 15-and-a-half minutes to play. However, Cal Poly – which conceded a 50.9 (28-for-55) percent field goal mark to Arizona State on Sunday – was outscored 48-23 to finish the matchup.
Martin added a team high seven rebounds for Cal Poly (0-2) while Shead matched a career high with seven assists.
Cal Poly opens its 12-game home schedule inside Mott Athletics Center on Thursday, Nov. 17 versus Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7 p.m.
Neither side led by more than three points until Arizona State – holding the Mustangs to a solitary field goal during a five-minute span – cobbled together a 13-4 run to grab a 23-13 lead midway through the opening half.
Cal Poly, however, utilized back-to-back three-pointers from Martin and senior guard Ridge Shipley and a Shead layup to climb within two points of Arizona State's lead.
Three-pointers on successive possessions from Toth and junior guard Victor Joseph helped the Mustangs close the gap at 34-34 before back-to-back Martin layups allowed Cal Poly to overtake the Sun Devils 38-36 two-and-a-half minutes before the break.
Arizona State ultimately took a 39-38 edge in halftime, but saw the lead immediately usurped with a pair of Toth three-pointers and two Shead layups handing Cal Poly a pair of five-point leads inside the opening four minutes.
With Cal Poly still leading 51-48 after the last of three Aleks Abrams free throws, however, Arizona State rolled off a 10-2 run to go up 58-53 with 13 minutes to play.
Held to a single field goal during the next five minutes, Cal Poly then saw Arizona State stretch its lead to 68-58 with eight-and-a-half remaining.
Cal Poly closed within single digits of Arizona State's lead just once more the remainder of the night.
Photo courtesy of Martin K. Folb / Pepperdine Athletics
