10-19 (4-12)
UC Santa Barbara
17-12 (11-5)
Cal Poly Falls in Season Finale; No. 7 Seed for Big West Tournament
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
2016 BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT BRACKET (pdf)
SANTA BARBARA – Senior guard David Nwaba (above) scored a game high 15 points, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program couldn't bridge an early second-half run by Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale and fell inside the Thunderdome, 69-50.
Senior forward Brian Bennett added 11 points for Cal Poly (10-19, 4-12), which trailed by three at halftime before UC Santa Barbara (17-12, 11-5) produced an 11-1 run out of the break and never led by less than five points the remainder of the evening. Despite outrebounding the Gauchos 42-39 and grabbing 14 offensive boards, Cal Poly shot just 14.3 (4-for-28) percent from three-point range.
Both Nwaba and freshman guard Jaylen Shead each grabbed a game high nine rebounds for Cal Poly.
Independent of Saturday's result, the Mustangs were relegated to the No. 7 seed for the March 10-12 Big West Conference Tournament after the eventual sixth seed, UC Riverside (14-18, 5-11), dropped a 76-66 home decision to Cal Poly's quarterfinal opponent – second-seeded UC Irvine (24-8, 13-3).
Two years removed from its first Big West Tournament championship, Cal Poly will open the 2016 tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim versus UC Irvine in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, March 10.
Highlighted by three-pointers from forward Jarriesse Blackmon and guard DaJuan Smith, UC Santa Barbara ran out to a 12-2 lead after five minutes. Held to a 0-for-9 start from the floor, the Mustangs eventually snapped their drought with a pair of Bennett layups and Nwaba followed with a jumper to cut Cal Poly's early deficit to 16-10.
However, Cal Poly – limited to a 24.0 (6-for-25) percent mark from the floor during the opening 15 minutes – kept the Gauchos to just two field goals during an eight-minute span and moved to within a point at 22-21 following a Shead three-pointer.
The Mustangs closed within a point once more following the fourth of Bennett's four first-half field goals, but the Gauchos maintained a 29-26 lead at halftime.
Fueled in part by three-pointers from guards Michael Bryson and Gabe Vincent, the Gauchos opened the second half with their 11-1 run to grab their largest advantage of the afternoon at 40-27.
Cal Poly, however, responded immediately with another Shead three-pointer before Nwaba completed a three-point play. A jumper from sophomore guard Taylor Sutlive moments later cut UC Santa Barbara's lead to 44-39 with 12 minutes remaining.
One Cal Poly field goal during an ensuing six-minute span, however, allowed the Gauchos to reestablish a double-digit lead at 53-42 with six-and-a-half minutes to play.
Cal Poly mounted one final charge on the Gauchos. Sutlive followed an Nwaba free throw and layup with a three-point to bring the Mustangs within five points with five minutes left.
Cal Poly, however, did not convert a field goal attempt the remainder of the night.
