Cal Poly Eliminated in Big West Tournament Opening Round by UC Davis, 63-53

Tuesday, March 8

Henderson, NV

8:30 p.m.

7-21,2-12Big West

No. 7 UC Davis

13-10,5-6Big West

Team	1	2	F
Cal Poly	24	29	53
UC Davis	27	36	63

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

3/8/2022 10:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HENDERSON, Nev. – Junior guard Trevon Taylor (above) finished with a game high 20 points and grabbed a team leading eight rebounds, but the 10th-seeded Cal Poly men's basketball program was eliminated in the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament Tuesday evening by No. 7 UC Davis inside the Dollar Loan Center, 63-53

Sophomore point guard Camren Pierce added 11 points for Cal Poly (7-21), which tied Tuesday's matchup versus UC Davis (13-10) at 43-43 with five-and-a-half minutes remaining. However, the Aggies – who shot the same exact 40.4 (21-for-52) percent field goal mark as Cal Poly and sank 17 free throws – pulled away with a 20-10 run to advance to the Thursday, March 10 quarterfinal round and a meeting with second-seeded Cal State Fullerton.

Cal Poly, which won the only regular season matchup between the two sides at home, 82-74 (Jan. 15) and closed the regular season with back-to-back victories, was forced into 17 turnovers.

The Mustangs, who won an opening-round game last season to reach the quarterfinals, also received nine points and seven rebounds from sophomore forward Brantly Stevenson.

With Taylor and Stevenson supplying 19 of Cal Poly's 24 first-half points, the Mustangs led just twice during the opening period, but never trailed by more than five. Taylor produced 14 first-half points alone, shooting 75.0 (6-for-8) percent from the floor while the Mustangs, collectively, produced a 27.5 (9-for-24) percent clip and trailed at the break, 27-24.

Taylor sank the opening basket of the second half, but UC Davis responded with a 6-0 run to go up, 33-26, with 16-and-a-half minutes to play.

Still facing a 43-37 deficit with eight minutes remaining, Cal Poly received two free throws from sophomore guard Kobe Sanders before Stevenson and Pierce sank layups to tie the matchup.

The Aggies, however, answered with a three-pointer from guard Elijah Pepper and layup by forward Christian Anigwe to reaffirm a 48-43 advantage with four-and-a-half minutes to play.