Cal Poly Hosts CSUN in Thursday Big West Conference Opener

Thursday, December 29

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

CSUN

Tickets

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Cal Poly Hosts CSUN in Thursday Big West Conference Opener

12/28/2022 4:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Resuming a 17-game home schedule, the Cal Poly men's basketball program opens its 27th season of Big West Conference action when hosting CSUN inside Mott Athletics Center on Thursday, Dec. 29. Tip time is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (6-6), which then plays the final Division I game of the 2022 calendar year with a 7 p.m. PT New Year's Eve matchup at Hawai'i. Ranked 38th among 352 Division I programs with a conference leading 75.4 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly looks to open Big West play with a win for the first time since the 2017-18 season. CSUN (3-8) completed Big West preparations with an 83-78 home victory against San Diego, snapping a three-game slide with its first win against a Division I opponent this season. Hawai'i (9-3), whose nine non-conference wins co-led the Big West alongside UC Santa Barbara (9-2), extended its winning streak to four straight with a 58-57, Christmas Day triumph against SMU to capture the program's own Diamond Head Classic championship. The Warriors host UC Davis Thursday evening to open Big West play.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ of Thursday's matchup with CSUN HERE … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com of Thursday's matchup with CSUN and Saturday's visit to Hawai'i HERE … live stats from both matchups will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS CSUN: Cal Poly's 83-78, double-overtime home loss to CSUN in the last matchup between the two programs (Feb. 10, 2022) extended the program's slide against the Matadors to three straight matchups. Cal Poly's last victory against CSUN was a 76-70 home victory on Jan. 29, 2021. Cal Poly leads the all-time series (57-53) while CSUN leads the Division I (27-22) series.

CAL POLY VERSUS HAWAI'I: Cal Poly looks to snap a four-game slide against Hawai'i with the Warriors having swept the last two season series. The Mustangs have also dropped their last eight games inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center with Cal Poly's last road win against Hawai'i a 61-57 overtime triumph on Jan. 7, 2015. Hawai'i leads the all-time series, 15-8.

THE STAN SHERIFF CONNECTION: With Cal Poly making its 12th all-time visit to Hawai'i, Cal Poly shares an historic link with the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center's namesake. An All-America selection in football at Cal Poly, Sheriff (1950-54) was a charter member of the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame. An NFL standout with the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns, Sheriff was the head coach at Northern Iowa for 23 years before becoming Hawai'i's Director of Athletics in 1983.

MUSTANG 1K CLUB: Two Mustangs have the opportunity this season to reach 1,000 career points. Graduate guard Chance Hunter will have the first opportunity with 958 career points scored at Cal Poly (2022-), California Baptist (2021-22) and Long Beach State (2019-21). Next, senior forward Alimamy Koroma – currently with 942 points – can become the 25th four-year Mustang to reach 1,000 in a career this season.

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 11.7 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 53.2 (50-for-94) percent field goal mark, Koroma also ranks 86th among NCAA Division I shooters. With 44 career double-digit scoring games (including eight this season), Koroma is averaging 10.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.6 (350-for-692) percent through 88 collegiate outings and 59 starts. He requires 58 more points to become just the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Koroma also ranks sixth in program history with 69 career blocks.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's second leading scorer at 10.3 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 12 games this season, Taylor – who has produced six double-digit scoring games in his last 10 outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.2 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 seven 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 remains second in Cal Poly's lineup with a 47.6 (40-for-84) percent field goal mark and third with 8.8 points per game. Averaging 4.3 rebounds per night, he also leads Cal Poly with an 84.2 (16-for-19) percent free throw mark.

CHANCE THE SCORER: A 12-point performance during Cal Poly's 72-59 home victory against San Diego Christian (Dec. 22) marked graduate guard Chance Hunter's fifth double-digit scoring game as a Mustang. Hunter also 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 11 of 12 matchups, Hunter is Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer with 8.7 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.

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 47-1 against non-Division I programs with a 72-59 home victory against NAIA San Diego Christian (Dec. 22) … 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) … Cal Poly's four-game win streak from Nov. 23-Dec. 10 marked the program's lengthiest since November 2015.