Cal Poly Visits Long Beach State for Feb. 19-20 Series

Friday, February 19

Long Beach, Calif.

4 p.m.

Long Beach State

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Visits Long Beach State for Feb. 19-20 Series

2/18/2021 10:54:00 AM | Men's Basketball

CAL POLY PLAYER GAME HIGHS AND STATS

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's basketball program plays two of its final three Big West Conference series away from Mott Athletics Center, beginning with a two-game, Feb. 19-20 set at Long Beach State. Tip time from Walter Pyramid is 4 p.m. both afternoons for Cal Poly (3-13, 1-9), which plays its first game in 13 days on Friday after the program's Feb. 12-13 home series against Cal State Fullerton was cancelled due to COVID concerns. In the seeding race for the March 9-13 Big West Tournament, 10th-place Cal Poly trails ninth-place Long Beach State (3-7, 2-4) by just three games. Long Beach State has played just two Big West games and only three games total since Jan. 9, most recently dropping both series matchups at UC Davis (Feb. 12-13). The Beach concedes the most points of any Big West program at 84.2 per game.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play for Cal Poly's Feb. 19-20 series at Long Beach State for ESPN 1280 in San Luis Obispo County and on GoPoly.com HERE … live stats and streaming video of both matchups will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS LONG BEACH STATE: The Mustangs have prevailed at Long Beach State just once in the past 10 trips to Walter Pyramid – a 78-71 triumph on Feb. 23, 2017. The two programs split last year's series with Long Beach State outlasting Cal Poly at home, 80-73 (March 5). Long Beach State leads both the all-time (52-33) and Division I (33-17) series.

A REVISED BIG WEST SCHEDULE FOR 2020-21: This season's Big West schedule was expanded from 16 games to 18 following the offseason additions of CSU Bakersfield (joining from the Western Athletic Conference) and UC San Diego (making its Division I debut and playing Big West programs with results not counted in the standings). Modified to reduce travel and emphasize safety, the Big West schedule has been altered so that teams play the same opponent on consecutive days at one site. Each Big West program will play its conference schedule over an 11-week period with one bye week. Games will not be rescheduled should a program need to quarantine during the season. Tie-breaking procedures shall be utilized at the end of the regular season.

KOROMA'S SUPERB SOPHOMORE EFFORT: Cal Poly's leader with 10 double-digit scoring games this season after recording just three in 26 appearances last winter, sophomore forward Alimamy Koroma enters the program's Feb. 19-20 series at Long Beach State first in the lineup with 12.5 points per game. Averaging 16.0 points per Cal Poly's last seven outings, Koroma most recently scored a career best 20 points to help fuel the program's 76-70 Jan. 29 home victory against CSUN before finishing with 18 points at Hawai'i (Feb. 6). Now averaging 7.9 points per 40 collegiate games, Koroma – after grabbing a season high nine rebounds against CSUN (Jan. 29) – ranks second in the lineup with 5.0 rebounds per game.

AS THE CROWE LETS IT FLY: The Big West's leader with 34 three-pointers and the owner of Cal Poly's top single game scoring effort of the year after sinking six three-pointers in a 21-point effort against CSUN (Jan. 29), senior wing Mark Crowe remains third in the lineup at 8.1 points per outing. A 37.2 (136-for-366) percent career three-point shooter in 106 collegiate outings, Crowe requires just six more appearances and 18 additional three-pointers to break into the top 10 all-time leaders listing in program history.

ROGERS RESUMES IMPACT: Having matched his career scoring high with 18 points at CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 8) and finishing with a further 16 at Hawai'i (Feb. 6), sophomore guard Colby Rogers enters Cal Poly's Feb. 19-20 series at Long Beach State second in the lineup with 10.2 points per matchup and with five double-digit scoring games. After missing Cal Poly's opening five games through injury, Rogers – Cal Poly's top returning scorer from last season – made his sophomore debut with eight points at Loyola Marymount (Dec. 19). Rogers is averaging 9.1 points per 41 career games.

FRESHMEN IN THE FOLD: Two members of Cal Poly's six-player freshman class are enjoying an immediate impact for the program during their first seasons on campus. Forward Brantly Stevenson, whose 17-point effort during a Dec. 13 home victory against San Jose State marks the fifth highest scoring output by a Mustang this season, ranks fifth in the lineup at 5.4 points per outing. Cal Poly's leading rebounder is forward Dyson Koehler, who has grabbed at least six boards in eight of 13 appearances and is averaging 5.3 per night.

LOOKING AHEAD (FEB. 22-28): Cal Poly closes the penultimate month of the regular season and its 11-game home schedule when hosting UC Davis for a two-game, Feb. 26-27 series inside Mott Athletics Center. Tip time is 2 p.m. both afternoons for Cal Poly, which seeks its first home victory against UC Davis in four years.