Road Trip Resumes Saturday at Portland State, Monday at Portland

Saturday, December 11

Portland, OR

7 p.m.

Portland State

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Road Trip Resumes Saturday at Portland State, Monday at Portland

12/7/2021 3:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY RELEASE

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's basketball program plays the first two of its three regular season games outside of California when facing Portland State on Saturday, Dec. 11 and Portland on Monday, Dec. 13. Tip time both evenings is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (2-6), which visits Portland State for the first time in 12 seasons and Portland for just the second time in 17 years. Continuing a nine-game road trip, Cal Poly looks to snap a two-game slide when facing Portland State (3-4), which has prevailed just once in its last four outings – including sustaining a 69-54 home setback to Portland (Nov. 23). Portland (7-3), meanwhile, has already eclipsed its win total from last season. Following a 90-82 home loss to VMI (Dec. 3), Portland enjoys a 10-day break before welcoming Cal Poly.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com of Saturday's visit to Portland State and Monday's matchup with Portland … live stats and streaming video from both games will also be available via GoPoly.com.

CAL POLY VERSUS PORTLAND STATE: The Vikings lead the all-time series, 5-3, following the last matchup – a 92-83 Portland State home victory – on Nov. 21, 2009. Cal Poly's last win versus Portland State was a 65-62 home victory on Dec. 17, 2008.

CAL POLY VERSUS PORTLAND: The Mustangs have defeated Portland just once in nine all-time matchups, edging the Pilots on Nov. 11, 2006 (56-53). The Pilots won the last matchup between the two sides on Nov. 23, 2018 as part of the Portland Classic (72-67). Portland leads the all-time series dating to the first matchup on Dec. 10, 1954, 9-1.

CLOSE, BUT: Four of Cal Poly's six defeats this season have occurred by four points or fewer. Excluding an 87-57 loss at Santa Clara (Nov. 19), Cal Poly's remaining five defeats have come by an average of 3.4 points per game. The Mustangs have already twice sustained one-point defeats versus Sacramento State (Nov. 15) and San Diego (Dec. 5) and an overtime loss to Nicholls State (Nov. 22).

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: Cal Poly's current nine-game road trip is the program's lengthiest since playing 12 successive games away from home during the 1970-71 season (Dec. 12-Jan. 22). Cal Poly also played nine straight road games to open the 1968-69 season.

KOROMA CONTINUES SCORING WAYS: One of Cal Poly's top two scorers for a second straight season, junior forward Alimamy Koroma – fueled by a team leading five double-digit scoring outings, including a career best 23-point effort against Nicholls State (Nov. 22) – ranks seventh among Big West players with 13.5 points per game. Koroma, who added 19 points against Sacramento State (Nov. 15), also leads Cal Poly and ranks third among Big West players with a 54.2 (45-for-83) percent field goal mark. With 24 career double-digit scoring games, Koroma is averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per 56 collegiate outings.

COLVIN CLIMBS SCORING CHART: Averaging 12.8 points per Cal Poly's last five games, sophomore forward Kyle Colvin remains third in the lineup with 9.9 points per evening. Capped by a first collegiate double-double that included career bests for points (28) and rebounds (10) against Idaho (Nov. 24), Colvin has recorded three double-digit scoring games this season. He also enjoyed an 18-point performance against Santa Clara (Nov. 19). After missing last season through injury, Colvin is Cal Poly's second leader shooter at 44.6 (25-for-56) percent and third leading rebounder with 4.9 per game.

TAYLOR ON THE BOARDS: One of only two Mustangs with a double-double thus far after scoring a Cal Poly best 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against Sacramento State (Nov. 15), junior guard Trevon Taylor maintains the program's rebounding lead with 5.6 boards per night. Having also grabbed nine rebounds versus Nicholls State (Nov. 22) and California Baptist (Dec. 2), Taylor – an offseason transfer from James Madison – has started seven of eight matchups while averaging 6.0 points per game.

PIERCE'S DISTRIBUTION EFFORTS: One of only two Mustangs to start all eight games alongside forward Alimamy Koroma, sophomore point guard Camren Pierce ranks third among Big West players with 4.4 assists per game. Highlighted by a career best eight-assist performance at San Diego (Dec. 5), Pierce has produced six-plus assists three times this season. Pierce, who scored a career best 15 points at California Baptist (Dec. 2), is fourth in Cal Poly's lineup with 7.3 points per evening.

THE GRADUATE: Five games in a Cal Poly uniform and three double-digit scoring outings for graduate guard Jacob Davison, who enters Saturday's matchup at Portland State as the program's second leading scorer with 10.0 points per night. An offseason transfer after helping Eastern Washington to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Davison scored 14 points in his Nov. 9 Cal Poly debut before finishing with a season high 19 points against North Dakota State (Nov. 12). Through 114 collegiate appearances, Davison is averaging 12.4 points per game.

LOOKING AHEAD: Cal Poly completes its nine-game road trip and Big West Conference preparations when visiting Fresno State on Friday, Dec. 17 and No. 4 UCLA on Wednesday, Dec. 22. Tip time is 7 p.m. both nights for Cal Poly, which looks to snap a four-game slide at Fresno State and claim the program's first road win against the Bulldogs in 10 years. At UCLA, Cal Poly faces its first ranked opponent since falling at then-No. 18 Saint Mary's (Nov. 17, 2019). Cal Poly's 70-68 win at then-No. 11 UCLA on Nov. 25, 2012 – in which the Mustangs overturned an 18-point deficit with 12 minutes remaining – remains the program's first and only win against a ranked opponent at the Division I level.

ETC.: Since transitioning to the Division I level prior to the 1994-95 season, Cal Poly improved to 44-1 against non-Division I programs with an 86-53 home win against NAIA Westcliff (Nov. 9) … a 75-72 overtime loss versus Nicholls State (Nov. 22) marked Cal Poly's first all-time meeting against the Colonels … sophomore forward Kyle Colvin was name to SoCal Challenge All-Tournament Team (Nov. 24) after averaging 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as Cal Poly finished third … Cal Poly captured third place at the inaugural SoCal Challenge (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) with a 67-63 victory versus Idaho (Nov. 24).