Cal Poly Caps Road Trip Monday at UC Riverside

Monday, January 16

Riverside, CA

5 p.m.

UC Riverside

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Cal Poly Caps Road Trip Monday at UC Riverside

1/13/2023 3:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Playing two of its next three games away from Mott Athletics Center, the Cal Poly men's basketball program looks to snap a four-game slide when visiting UC Riverside on Monday, Jan. 16. Tip time from SRC Arena is 5 p.m. with action broadcast on ESPN+. After opening Big West Conference action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN, the Mustangs have dropped four straight – most recently falling at Long Beach State (Jan. 12), 77-58. The Big West leader with a 74.6 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly slipped to ninth place in the Big West standings with Thursday's setback at Long Beach State. Winners of five of its last six matchups and featuring the Big West's leading scorer in senior guard Zyon Pullin (19.6 points per game), UC Riverside (11-6, 4-1) remained third in the standings with a 74-68 win at UC San Diego (Jan. 11). Prior to hosting Cal Poly, the Highlanders visit first place UC Santa Barbara Saturday.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer provides the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com of Monday's visit to UC Riverside HERE … ESPN+ coverage and live stats will also be available HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC RIVERSIDE: The second most frequent opponent in Cal Poly's history after UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside has won six straight matchups against the Mustangs dating to the 2019-20 season. Cal Poly's last series victory was a 71-45 road decision on Jan. 31, 2019. UC Riverside leads the all-time series (55-51) while Cal Poly leads the Division I (28-20) series.

MUSTANGS FROM THE LINE: Cal Poly enters Monday's matchup at UC Riverside ranked 54th among 352 Division I programs with a Big West leading 74.6 (209-for-280) percent free throw mark. Highlighted by a 9-for-9 performance against San Diego Christian (Dec. 22) and a 16-for-17 (94.1 percent) outing versus California Baptist (Dec. 3), Cal Poly has shot better than 81 percent from the free throw line eight times.

MUSTANG 1K CLUB: Graduate guard Chance Hunter surpassed 1,000 career points against Long Beach State (Jan. 12) and senior forward Alimamy Koroma has the opportunity to join him in reaching the milestone Monday at UC Riverside. With Hunter now on 1,005 career points, Koroma requires just 11 more to become the 25th four-year Mustang to reach 1,000 in a career.

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 11.0 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 with a 50.4 (67-for-133) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 47 career double-digit scoring games (including 11 this season) – is averaging 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.1 (367-for-732) percent through 93 collegiate outings and 62 starts. He requires nine 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 72 career blocks and 17st with 452 collegiate rebounds.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's second leading scorer at 9.9 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 comprises a 13-point performance at Long Beach State (Jan. 12). The only Mustang to start all 17 games this season, Taylor – who has produced nine double-digit scoring games in his last 15 outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.1 rebounds per game.

CHANCE THE SCORER: A Cal Poly best 19-point performance during the program's Jan. 7 matchup against UC Santa Barbara marked graduate guard Chance Hunter's seventh double-digit scoring game as a Mustang. Hunter also scored 18 points against Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20) before adding 15 versus California Baptist (Dec. 3). A starter in 14 of 17 matchups, Hunter is Cal Poly's third leading scorer with 8.9 points per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through five Big West matchups, first finishing with a season best 17 points in a Dec. 29 conference-opening victory versus CSUN before recording 14 at CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 5). Sanders is Cal Poly's fifth overall leading scorer at 7.0 points per game, but tops the lineup in Big West play at 9.6 points per five conference games. With 10 starts in 14 appearances, Sanders also ranks second in the lineup with an 83.3 (25-for-30) percent free throw mark.

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 43.6 (48-for-110) percent field goal mark and fourth with 7.5 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 … 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 … Cal Poly's Dec. 31 matchup at Hawai'i marked the final Division I men's game of the 2022 calendar year and the program's only scheduled game outside of the Pacific Time Zone this season … transferring to Cal Poly with 854 combined points between Long Beach State (2019-21) and California Baptist (2021-22), graduate guard Chance Hunter recorded his 1,000th career point at Long Beach State (Jan. 12).