Cal Poly Closes 2022 with New Year’s Eve Matchup at Hawai’i

Saturday, December 31

Honolulu, O'ahu

7 p.m.

Hawai'i

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Closes 2022 with New Year’s Eve Matchup at Hawai’i

12/30/2022 2:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The final Division I men's basketball game of the 2022 calendar year take place on New Year's Eve inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center as the Cal Poly men's basketball program visits Hawai'i. Tip time is 7 p.m. PT (5 p.m. HT) for Cal Poly (7-6, 1-0), which opened Big West Conference action Thursday evening with a 67-57 home victory against CSUN. Seeking its first victory at Hawai'i in eight seasons, Cal Poly enters Saturday's game ranked 34th among 352 Division I programs with a 75.9 (167-for-220) percent free throw mark and finishing better than 81 percent from the line seven times. Saturday's matchup marks Cal Poly's first New Year's Eve matchup since a 2016 trip to Princeton and just the program's fifth all-time game on New Year's Eve. Hawai'i (10-3, 1-0), whose 10 total victories match UC Santa Barbara (10-2, 1-0) for the conference lead, extended its winning streak to five straight with a 74-66 home triumph against UC Davis (Dec. 29). The Warriors rank second among Big West programs with just 60.6 points allowed per game while Cal Poly comes in third at 64.0.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Saturday's matchup will be broadcast via Spectrum Sports and through ESPN+ HERE … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com of Saturday's matchup at Hawai'i HERE … live stats from the matchup will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

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 969 career points scored at Cal Poly (2022-), California Baptist (2021-22) and Long Beach State (2019-21). Next, senior forward Alimamy Koroma – currently with 955 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). Ranked second among Big West players and 98th among Division I players with a 52.0 (53-for-102) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 45 career double-digit scoring games (including nine this season) – is averaging 10.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4 (353-for-700) percent through 89 collegiate outings and 60 starts. He requires 45 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 10.2 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. His most recent effort was a 10-point, nine-rebound effort to fuel Cal Poly's Big West-opening victory versus CSUN (Dec. 22). The only Mustang to start all 13 games this season, Taylor – who has produced seven double-digit scoring games in his last 11 outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.5 rebounds per game.

CHANCE THE SCORER: An 11-point performance during Cal Poly's 67-57 home victory against CSUN (Dec. 29) marked graduate guard Chance Hunter's sixth 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 12 of 13 matchups, Hunter is Cal Poly's third leading scorer with 8.8 points 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 twice this year 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 46.7 (42-for-90) percent field goal mark and fourth with 8.5 points per game while averaging 4.1 rebounds per night.

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 … Cal Poly's 67-57 home win against CSUN (Dec. 29) marked the program's first Big West opening-night victory since the 2017-18 season.