Cal Poly Caps Home Stand Saturday versus Cal State Fullerton

Saturday, January 28

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

Cal State Fullerton

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Caps Home Stand Saturday versus Cal State Fullerton

1/27/2023 2:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Playing two of its next three games at home inside Mott Athletics Center, the Cal Poly men's basketball program closes a two-game home stand on Saturday, Jan. 28 against Cal State Fullerton. Tip time on ESPN+ is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (7-14, 1-8), which opened Big West Conference action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN before dropping eight straight – most recently falling to Long Beach State on Thursday, 70-52. Ranked 49th among NCAA Division I programs with a 74.9 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly – following Thursday's setback to Long Beach State – remained 10th place in the Big West standings. Despite a 62-61 Thursday home win against UC Irvine that stemmed a two-game slide, Cal State Fullerton (11-11, 5-5) stayed in sixth in the Big West standings. The Titans enter Saturday's matchup as the Big West's leader with 175 three-pointers while ranking second with a 37.4 percent three-point mark.

FOLLOW CAL POLY SATURDAY: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ of 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 HERE … live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

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 Saturday's matchup versus Cal State Fullerton ranked 49th among 352 Division I programs with a Big West leading 74.9 (242-for-323) 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.

KOROMA REMAINS CAL POLY'S OFFENSIVE CATALYST: One of Cal Poly's top two scorers for a third successive season, forward Alimamy Koroma co-leads the Mustangs with 10.4 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 51.9 (80-for-154) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 48 career double-digit scoring games (including 12 this season) – is averaging 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.6 (381-for-753) percent through 97 collegiate outings and 66 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks fifth all-time 79 career blocks, 17st with 464 collegiate rebounds and 24th with 1,021 points.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's co-leading scorer at 10.4 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) while grabbing a career best 11 rebounds versus Long Beach State (Jan. 26). The only Mustang to start all 21 games this season, Taylor – who has produced five double-digit scoring games in his last nine outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.1 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 15 of 21 matchups, Hunter ranks fourth in Cal Poly's lineup 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). Stevenson's most recent scoring effort was a 13-point performance against Long Beach State (Jan. 26). The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson leads Cal Poly with an 88.6 (31-for-35) percent free throw mark while ranking second with a 45.0 (67-for-149) percent field goal mark and third with 8.6 points per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through nine 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 remains Cal Poly's fifth overall leading scorer at 7.6 points per game following a nine-point effort versus Long Beach State (Jan. 26), but ranks second in the lineup in Big West play at 9.6 points per nine conference games. With 14 starts in 18 appearances, Sanders also ranks second in the lineup with an 82.1 (32-for-39) 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) … Cal Poly's Jan. 26 home matchup with Long Beach State marked fourth year head coach John Smith's 100th regular season game in charge of the Mustangs.