Cal Poly Visits UC Santa Barbara Thursday, Hosts Hawai’i Saturday

Thursday, February 2

Santa Barbara, CA

7 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Visits UC Santa Barbara Thursday, Hosts Hawai’i Saturday

1/31/2023 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY RELEASE

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Playing three of its next four games away from Mott Athletics Center, Cal Poly visits Blue-Green rival and Big West Conference leader UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 2 before hosting Hawai'i on Saturday, Feb. 4. Both games tip at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (7-15, 1-9), which opened Big West Conference action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN before dropping nine straight – most recently falling at home to Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 28). Ranked 68th among NCAA Division I programs with a 74.3 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly – following Saturday's setback to Cal State Fullerton – remained 10th place in the Big West standings. Winners of four straight, UC Santa Barbara (17-3, 8-1) retained first place in the standings – by a half-game above UC Riverside (15-7, 8-2) – with a 65-64 victory at Hawai'i (Jan. 26). Ranked ninth nationally with a 49.3 percent field goal mark, the Gauchos edged Cal Poly in the first meeting of the year, 62-57 (Jan. 7), after overturning a late second-half deficit. Fourth-place Hawai'i (16-6, 7-3), which outdueled Cal Poly at home on New Year's Eve, 57-48, sits just one-and-a-half games behind UC Santa Barbara. Hawai'i, which concedes a Big West low 61.7 points per game, has prevailed just twice in five games on the mainland. The Rainbow Warriors visit UC Davis Thursday before heading toward Cal Poly.

FOLLOW CAL POLY SATURDAY: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ of Saturday's home matchup with Hawai'i HERE … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com from Thursday's visit to UC Santa Barbara and Saturday's meeting with Hawai'i HERE … live stats from both matchups will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: The most frequent opponent in Cal Poly's program history with the 116th matchup coming Thursday, UC Santa Barbara has won 10 straight against the Mustangs and 17 of the last 18 matchups following a 62-57 decision inside Mott Athletics Center (Jan. 7). Cal Poly's last victory against the Gauchos was an 80-79 home decision (Jan. 4, 2018) in which the Mustangs overturned a 21-point, first-half deficit. The Mustangs also look to snap an eight-game winless run inside The Thunderdome with Cal Poly last road victory against the Gauchos a 72-64 decision on Jan. 11, 2014. UC Santa Barbara leads both the all-time (80-35) and Division I (46-14) series.

CAL POLY VERSUS HAWAI'I: Cal Poly looks to snap a five-game slide against Hawai'i with the Warriors having swept the last two season series and prevailing on New Year's Eve at home, 57-48. Cal Poly's last victory against Hawai'i was a 79-75 overtime home triumph on Feb. 8, 2020. Hawai'i leads the all-time series, 16-8.

MUSTANGS FROM THE LINE: Cal Poly enters Thursday's matchup at UC Santa Barbara ranked 68th among 352 Division I programs with a Big West leading 74.3 (246-for-331) 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 leads the Mustangs with 10.2 points per game following a 14-point outing at UC Davis (Jan. 21) and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Second among Big West players with a 51.6 (82-for-159) 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 50.5 (383-for-758) percent through 98 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 467 collegiate rebounds and 24th with 1,026 points.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's second leading scorer at 10.0 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 22 games this season, Taylor – who has produced five double-digit scoring games in his last 10 outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.2 rebounds 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 efforts include successive 13-point performances against Long Beach State (Jan. 26) and Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 28). 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 45.6 (72-for-158) percent field goal mark and third with 8.8 points 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 22 matchups, Hunter ranks fourth in Cal Poly's lineup with 8.3 points per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through 10 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 7.7 points per game following an 11-point effort versus Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 28), but ranks first in the lineup in Big West play at 9.7 points per 10 conference games. With 15 starts in 19 appearances, Sanders also ranks second in the lineup with a 77.8 (35-for-45) 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 … Cal Poly's 36-point output versus Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 28) marked the program's lowest total since a 43-36 loss at Cal State Los Angeles (Jan. 19, 1985).