Mustangs Back Home to Host Weber State Friday Evening

Friday, December 16

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

Weber State

Tickets

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Mustangs Back Home to Host Weber State Friday Evening

12/15/2022 1:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Winners of four its last five games, the Cal Poly men's basketball team faces Weber State for the first time in 10 seasons and just the second time in program history when hosting the Wildcats on Friday, Dec. 16. Tip time from Mott Athletics Center is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (5-4), which saw a four-game winning streak – the program's lengthiest in seven years – snapped with a 74-68 setback at Washington (Dec. 13). Completing Big West Conference preparations with two of three home games, Cal Poly – following Friday's meeting with the Wildcats – closes non-conference action at San Jose State (Dec. 20) before hosting NAIA San Diego Christian (Dec. 22). Weber State (3-7), which ranks second among 352 NCAA Division I programs with an 83.3 (155-for-186) percent free throw mark, enters Friday's matchup idle for six days following a 82-58 home victory against Division II Saint Martin's (Dec. 10) that snapped a four-game slide.

FOLLOW CAL POLY FRIDAY: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ of Friday's matchup with Weber State HERE … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com HERE … live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS WEBER STATE: Facing Weber State for the first time during the regular season, Cal Poly's last engagement with the Wildcats was an 85-43 road loss on March 20, 2013 in the first round of that year's postseason CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

KOROMA REMAINS CAL POLY'S OFFENSIVE CATALYST: One of Cal Poly's top two scorers for a third successive season, forward Alimamy Koroma once again leads the program with 12.8 points per game following a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23) and 19-point effort against California Baptist (Dec. 3). With a Big West leading 56.9 (41-for-72) percent field goal mark, Koroma also ranks 58th among NCAA Division I shooters. With 42 career double-digit scoring games (including six this season), Koroma is averaging 10.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.9 (341-for-670) percent through 85 collegiate outings and 56 starts. He requires 83 more points to become just the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Koroma also ranks seventh in program history with 67 career blocks.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's second leading scorer at 10.7 points per game and with a season best 17-point performance against Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20), senior guard Trevon Taylor completed a second career double-double with 10 rebounds versus The Mount. The only Mustang to start all nine games this season, Taylor – who has produced five double-digit scoring games in his last seven outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.9 rebounds per game.

STEVENSON'S CAREER DAYS: Forward Brantly Stevenson had never scored more than 17 points in a collegiate game entering his junior season, but has bettered the total in two of Cal Poly's last four outings, finishing with a career best 23 points at Pacific (Nov. 28) and 20 versus Portland State (Dec. 10). The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson now ranks second in Cal Poly's lineup with a 53.8 (35-for-65) percent field goal mark and third with 10.3 points per game. Averaging 4.2 rebounds per night, he also leads Cal Poly with an 83.3 (15-for-18) percent free throw mark.

CHANCE THE SCORER: A 13-point performance during Cal Poly's 74-68 road setback at Washington (Dec. 13) marked graduate guard Chance Hunter's fourth double-digit scoring game as a Mustang. Cal Poly's leading three-point shooter at 41.9 (18-for-43) percent, Hunter scored a Cal Poly-best 18 points against Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20) before adding 15 versus California Baptist (Dec. 3). A starter in eight of nine matchups, Hunter is Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer with 9.7 points per game.

THE SMITHS: With the addition of Jamal Smith – son of fourth-year head coach John Smith – as director of operations, Cal Poly is one of only three Division I programs with that familial distinction. Louisiana Monroe features head coach Keith Richard and director of operations Luke while North Florida counts head coach Matthew Driscoll alongside operations director and son, Chase.

LOOKING AHEAD (TUESDAY, DEC. 20/THURSDAY, DEC. 22): Cal Poly completes Big West Conference preparations at San Jose State on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. before hosting first-time opponent and NAIA-affiliated San Diego Christian on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. Cal Poly's visit to San Jose State is its first since a 47-40 victory on Dec. 10, 2011. The Mustangs also bettered the Spartans at home two years ago.

ETC.: Cal Poly is in its 79th season as a four-year program and 29th at the Division I level … since transitioning to the Division I level prior to the 1994-95 season, Cal Poly improved to 45-1 against non-Division I programs with a 94-59 home win against NCCAA Bethesda University (Nov. 7) … Cal Poly's 73-68 home setback versus Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 18) marked the program's first all-time matchup versus The Mount and just the fourth all-time game against a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent … forward Alimamy Koroma and guard Trevon Taylor earned spots on the California Thanksgiving Jam all-tournament team (Nov. 20, 23) … Cal Poly's 58.3 (30-for-51) percent field goal mark in an 82-71 home victory against Idaho (Nov. 23) marked the highest single game total under fourth-year head coach John Smith … Cal Poly's seven turnovers versus Idaho were the fewest amount since finishing with seven against UC Riverside on Jan. 16, 2021 … due to health and safety protocols with Pepperdine, Cal Poly's Nov. 30 road matchup with the Waves was cancelled … Cal Poly held Portland State to its lowest scoring output in eight seasons during a 72-49 victory (Dec. 10).