Mustangs Back Home Twice, Starting Thursday with Long Beach State

Thursday, January 26

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

Long Beach State

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Mustangs Back Home Twice, Starting Thursday with Long Beach State

1/25/2023 10:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Returning home to Mott Athletics Center for three of its ensuing four matchups, the Cal Poly men's basketball program looks to snap a seven-game slide when welcoming Long Beach State (Thursday, Jan. 26) and Cal State Fullerton (Saturday, Jan. 28). Tip time is 7 p.m. with action streamed on ESPN+ both evenings for Cal Poly (7-13, 1-7), which opened Big West Conference action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN before dropping seven straight – most recently falling at UC Davis (Jan. 21), 65-63. Ranked 32nd among NCAA Division I programs with a 75.6 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly – following Saturday's setback to UC Davis – remained 10th place in the Big West standings. Up to sixth in the standings following a triple-overtime home victory versus UC San Diego (Jan. 21), Long Beach State (10-10, 4-4) ranks second among big West programs with 77.1 points per game while conceding a conference high 74.5 points per night. Cal State Fullerton (10-11, 4-5), meanwhile, sits just one half-game behind Long Beach State in the standings after dropping four of its last five. Thursday's matchup with Long Beach State marks fourth year Cal Poly head coach John Smith's 100th regular season game in charge of the Mustangs.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ of Thursday's home matchup with Long Beach State and Saturday's game against Cal State Fullerton HERE … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com of both games HERE … live stats from both matchups will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS LONG BEACH STATE: After falling at Long Beach State on Jan. 12, Cal Poly looks to snap a five-game series slide against The Beach. Cal Poly's last victory against Long Beach State came during The Beach's last visit to Mott Athletics Center with the Mustangs prevailing on Feb. 5, 2020, 92-75. Long Beach State leads both the all-time (56-33) and Division I (37-17) series.

CAL POLY VERSUS CAL STATE FULLERTON: Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton have met just once during the regular season in the previous two years with the Titans prevailing at home last February 61-50. Cal Poly's last win against the Titans was an 87-82 triumph during the opening round of the 2021 Big West Tournament. Cal Poly leads the all-time series (39-35), but Cal State Fullerton tops the Division I series (27-24).

MUSTANGS FROM THE LINE: Cal Poly enters Thursday's matchup versus Long Beach State ranked 32nd among 352 Division I programs with a Big West leading 75.6 (236-for-312) 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 Cal Poly's Jan. 19 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).

KOROMA REMAINS CAL POLY'S OFFENSIVE CATALYST: One of Cal Poly's top two scorers for a third successive season, forward Alimamy Koroma leads the Mustangs with 10.8 points per game following a 14-point outing at UC Davis (Jan. 21) and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Also the Big West leader with a 52.7 (78-for-148) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 48 career double-digit scoring games (including 12 this season) – is averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.7 (379-for-747) percent through 96 collegiate outings and 65 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks fifth all-time 77 career blocks, 17st with 461 collegiate rebounds and 24th with 1,017 points.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's second leading scorer at 10.6 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 20 games this season, Taylor – who has produced five double-digit scoring games in his last eight outings – also leads Cal Poly with 4.9 rebounds per game.

CHANCE THE SCORER: A 10-point performance during Cal Poly's Jan. 21 matchup at UC Davis marked graduate guard Chance Hunter's seventh double-digit scoring game as a Mustang. Hunter has also scored a Cal Poly best 19 points against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 7) and 18 versus Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20). A starter in 14 of 20 matchups, Hunter remains Cal Poly's third leading scorer with 8.6 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 87.5 (28-for-32) percent free throw mark while ranking second with a 44.9 (62-for-138) percent field goal mark and fourth with 8.4 points per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through eight 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 7.5 points per game following a 15-point outburst at UC Riverside (Jan. 16), but ranks second in the lineup in Big West play at 9.6 points per eight conference games. With 13 starts in 17 appearances, Sanders also ranks second in the lineup with an 86.1 (31-for-36) 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).