Cal Poly Hosts CSU Bakersfield Tuesday, Visits Hawai’i Thursday

Tuesday, February 22

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

CSU Bakersfield

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Hosts CSU Bakersfield Tuesday, Visits Hawai’i Thursday

2/21/2022 4:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's basketball program plays three of its final four regular season games at home inside Mott Athletics Center, beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 22 versus CSU Bakersfield. Tip time is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly, which hosts CSU Bakersfield as a Big West opponent for the first time before playing its final regular season road game at Hawai'i on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. PT (7 p.m. HT). With the Mustangs looking to snap a six-game slide, Cal Poly (5-18, 1-10) and CSU Bakersfield (6-15, 1-10) enter Tuesday's matchup tied for ninth in the Big West standings, trailing eighth place CSUN (7-18, 3-9) by one-and-a-half games. The Roadrunners prevailed in the season series opener, 73-60 (Jan. 18). Hawai'i (13-9, 7-4), meanwhile, has dropped four of its last six games, sliding from a first-place tie in the Big West standings to a share of fourth with UC Riverside (14-9, 7-4).

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Chris Sylvester provides streaming play-by-play for ESPN+ while Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer handles audio play-by-play for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com of Tuesday's matchup against CSU Bakersfield HERE … Chris Sylvester will also handle audio play-by-play of Thursday's game at Hawai'i HERE … live stats for both matchups will be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS CSU BAKERSFIELD: Cal Poly looks to snap a seven-game slide versus CSU Bakersfield during the past 11 seasons after the Roadrunners prevailed in this year's series opener, 73-60 (Jan. 18). Overall, CSU Bakersfield has won 11 of the past 12 meetings and leads both the all-time (37-25) and Division I (11-2) series.

CAL POLY VERSUS HAWAI'I: Cal Poly has dropped its last seven road matchups to Hawai'i during the past six years and seeks its first win inside the Stan Sheriff Center since a 61-57 overtime victory on Jan. 7, 2015. Hawai'i's 69-56 win at Cal Poly on Jan. 22 furthered the all-time series lead to 14-8.

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.

FIVE FOR FIGHTING: With seven Mustangs currently averaging at least 22.0 minutes per game, Cal Poly has used 12 different starting lineups this season. Cal Poly has not used the same starting lineup more than three times.

SCHEDULING HOLES: Cal Poly's scheduled Feb. 17 visit to UC Davis marked the fifth contest Cal Poly has had cancelled this season due to COVID protocols. Previously, the Mustangs saw their final non-conference game at No. 4 UCLA (Dec. 22) halted before the opening three scheduled Big West games were cancelled.

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 16 double-digit scoring outings, including a career best 26-point effort as half of his fourth career double-double at UC Riverside (Feb. 19) – ranks 11th among Big West players with 13.8 points per game. Having also scored 23 points against Nicholls State (Nov. 22), 21 versus UC Davis (Jan. 15) and 20 against CSUN (Feb. 10), Koroma has shot 50 percent or higher in a game 15 times and ranks second among Big West players with a 51.8 (127-for-245) percent field goal mark. Now Cal Poly's leader at 5.7 rebounds per game following an 11-board performance at UC Riverside, Koroma matched a career best with 12 rebounds at Long Beach State (Feb. 5). With 35 career double-digit scoring games, Koroma is averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.0 (284-for-557) percent through 71 collegiate outings and 44 starts. On 58 career blocks following a five-block performance versus UC Davis, Koroma enters Tuesday's game tied for ninth place in program history alongside senior forward Tuukka Jaakkola.

TAYLOR PRODUCES AT BOTH ENDS: An offseason transfer from James Madison by way of Wyoming, junior guard Trevon Taylor produced his ninth double-digit scoring game as a Mustang with 15 points versus UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 12) and ranks second in the lineup with a 44.8 (60-for-134) percent field goal mark and third with 8.3 points per night. Taylor, who scored a career best 27 points at Portland (Dec. 13) and added 17 at UC San Diego (Jan. 27), remains one of only three Mustangs with a double-double thus far after scoring 15 points and grabbing a career best 10 rebounds against Sacramento State (Nov. 15). With nine rebounds against UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 12), Taylor also ranks second in the lineup at 5.5 boards per night. Having also grabbed nine rebounds versus Nicholls State (Nov. 22) and California Baptist (Dec. 2), Taylor has started 21 of 23 matchups.

PIERCE'S DISTRIBUTION EFFORTS: Now second in Cal Poly's lineup with 8.5 points per game, sophomore point guard Camren Pierce leads all Big West players with 88 total assists and ranks third with 3.8 per game. Having twice distributed a career best eight assists at San Diego (Dec. 5) and versus UC Davis (Jan. 15) and seven against Hawai'i (Jan. 22), Pierce has produced six-plus assists five times this season. Offensively, Pierce – who scored a career best 16 points versus Hawai'i and 15 at California Baptist (Dec. 2) and against UC Davis – owns 10 double-digit scoring games this season. Cal Poly's leading free throw shooter and ranked third among Big West players at 84.2 (64-for-76) percent, Pierce enters Tuesday's matchup versus CSU Bakersfield having converted 36 of his previous 38 opportunities.

STEVENSON CLIMBS THE SCORING CHART: Averaging 12.1 points per Cal Poly's last seven matchups, sophomore forward Brantly Stevenson has scored in double figures in four of the last five games, most recently notching 13 points at UC Riverside (Fb. 19). Having matched a career best with 17 against CSUN (Feb. 10), Stevenson – a starter in 15 of 23 games – is now fourth in the lineup at 7.9 points per night.

LOOKING AHEAD: Cal Poly closes the regular season when hosting UC Irvine (Thursday, March 3) and UC San Diego (Saturday, March 5). Both games tip at 7 p.m. for Cal Poly, which will honor outgoing senior forward Tuukka Jaakkola prior to the March 5 season finale.

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) … Cal Poly's 61-58 victory at Portland State marked the program's first road win since a 71-45 triumph at UC Riverside on Jan. 31, 2019 … Cal Poly's nine-game road trip (Nov. 19-Jan. 8) was 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 … Cal Poly's 22-day gap between games from Dec. 17 to Jan. 8 was the fifth lengthiest stretch of any Division I program this year … Cal Poly's 59-day gap between a Nov. 15 matchup versus Sacramento State and a Jan. 13 contest against UC Riverside was – by 17 days more than Manhattan – the lengthiest stretch between home games of any Division I program this season … Cal Poly's 57-46 home loss versus UC Riverside marked the program's 800th Division I game (1994-95-) … Cal Poly snapped a nine-game series slide against UC Davis with an 82-74 home victory (Jan. 15) … Cal Poly's 59-55 win at UC San Diego (Jan. 27) marked the program's first meeting with the Tritons as a Big West opponent, first matchup against UCSD since Nov. 18, 2005 and first visit to UCSD since Jan. 11, 1977 … Cal Poly's 83-78 double-overtime home loss to CSUN marked the program's lengthiest game since a four-overtime setback at Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 15, 2020 … Cal Poly's 78-58 setback at UC Riverside (Feb. 19) marked the program's 400th Big West Conference game.