Mustangs Visit UC Davis Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN+

Thursday, January 19

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

UC San Diego

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Mustangs Visit UC Davis Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN+

1/20/2023 11:56:00 AM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's basketball program seeks its first victory at UC Davis in 11 years when visiting the Aggies on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. on ESPN+. After opening Big West Conference action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN, the Mustangs have dropped six straight – most recently falling at home to UC San Diego (Jan. 19), 71-64. Ranked 33rd among NCAA Division I programs with a 75.5 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly – following Thursday's setback to UC San Diego – slipped to 10th place in the Big West standings. Fifth place UC Davis (11-8, 4-3), meanwhile, saw a four-game winning streak snapped Thursday with a 74-72 home loss to Big West leader UC Riverside.

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 Saturday's visit to UC Davis HERE … ESPN+ coverage and live stats will also be available HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC DAVIS: The Mustangs look to snap an 11-year, eight-game winless streak inside the University Credit Union Center with Cal Poly's last road win against UC Davis a 67-65 decision on Jan. 28, 2012 (the Mustangs overcame a 17-point second half deficit during that win). Overall, Cal Poly has edged UC Davis just once in the last 11 meetings, dealing the Aggies an 82-74 defeat in San Luis Obispo last January. Cal Poly's oldest continual series, the Mustangs lead the all-time matchups, 36-30, dating to the first meeting – a 49-48 UC Davis home win – on Dec. 30, 1946. UC Davis, however, leads the Division I series, 23-15.

MUSTANGS FROM THE LINE: Cal Poly enters Saturday's matchup at UC Davis ranked 33rd among 352 Division I programs with a Big West leading 75.5 (222-for-294) percent free throw mark. Highlighted by 9-for-9 performances against San Diego Christian (Dec. 22) and at UC Riverside (Jan. 16) 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 nine times.

MUSTANG 1K CLUB: Senior forward Alimamy Koroma became the second Mustang in a three-game span to reach 1,000 career points when surpassing the milestone during the second half of Thursday's home matchup with UC San Diego. Previously, graduate guard Chance Hunter – with 854 previous combined points between time with California Baptist (2021-22) and Long Beach State (2019-21) – reached the 1,000-point milestone at Long Beach State (Jan. 12).

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's leading scorer at 10.8 points per game and with a season best 21-point effort at UC Riverside (Jan. 16), senior guard Trevon Taylor completed a second career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20). Taylor also owns a 20-point night against UC San Diego (Jan. 19) and 13-point efforts at Washington (Dec. 13) and Long Beach State (Jan. 12). The only Mustang to start all 19 games this season, Taylor – who has produced five double-digit scoring games in his last seven outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.1 rebounds per game.

KOROMA REMAINS CAL POLY'S OFFENSIVE CATALYST: One of Cal Poly's top two scorers for a third successive season, forward Alimamy Koroma ranks second in he lineup with 10.6 points per game following a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23) and 19-point effort against California Baptist (Dec. 3). Ranked third among Big West players with a 51.1 (72-for-141) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 47 career double-digit scoring games (including 11 this season) – is averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4 (373-for-740) percent through 95 collegiate outings and 64 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks sixth all-time 74 career blocks, 17st with 458 collegiate rebounds and 24th with 1,003 points.

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 19 matchups, Hunter remains Cal Poly's third leading scorer with 8.5 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 three times this year with a career best 23 points at Pacific (Nov. 28), 20 versus Portland State (Dec. 10) and 18 against UC San Diego (Jan. 19). The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson leads Cal Poly with an 88.5 (23-for-26) percent free throw mark while ranking second with a 45.3 (58-for-128) percent field goal mark and fourth with 8.1 points per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through seven 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 7.6 points per game following a 15-point outburst at UC Riverside (Jan. 16), but ranks second in the lineup in Big West play at 10.1 points per seven conference games. With 12 starts in 16 appearances, Sanders also ranks second in the lineup with an 84.4 (27-for-32) percent free throw mark.

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) … senior forward Alimamy Koroma became the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 points as a Mustang after finishing with seven points against UC San Diego (Jan. 19).