Mustangs Welcome UCSB Saturday at 1 p.m. on Spectrum, ESPN+

Saturday, January 7

San Luis Obispo, CA

1 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara

Tickets

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Mustangs Welcome UCSB Saturday at 1 p.m. on Spectrum, ESPN+

1/6/2023 2:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's basketball program returns home to Mott Athletics Center to host UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Jan. 7, tipping off at 1 p.m. with the Gauchos on Spectrum Sports (television) and ESPN+ (streaming). After outdueling CSUN (Dec. 29) to open Big West Conference action, Cal Poly (7-8, 1-2) fell at Hawai'i (Dec. 31) and CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 5) and looks to end its slide against a UC Santa Barbara (11-2, 2-0) program that extended a winning streak to seven straight with Big West-opening wins at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 29) and versus UC San Diego (Dec. 31). The Mustangs enter Saturday's game as the Big West's top free shooting side at 75.4 percent; the Gauchos counter as the conference's top shooting program with a 48.3 percent field goal figure.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ HERE and Spectrum Sports from Saturday's home matchup with UC Santa Barbara … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call for ESPN 1280 (San Luis Obispo County) and GoPoly.com 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 115th matchup coming Saturday, UC Santa Barbara has won nine straight against the Mustangs and 16 of the last 17 matchups. 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. UC Santa Barbara leads both the all-time (79-35) and Division I (45-14) series.

MUSTANGS FROM THE LINE: Cal Poly enters Saturday's matchup with UC Santa Barbara ranked 36th among 352 Division I programs with a Big West leading 75.4 (187-for-248) 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: Two Mustangs have the opportunity this season to reach 1,000 career points. Graduate guard Chance Hunter will have the first opportunity with 980 career points scored at Cal Poly (2022-), California Baptist (2021-22) and Long Beach State (2019-21). Next, senior forward Alimamy Koroma – currently with 971 points – can become the 25th four-year Mustang to reach 1,000 in a career this season.

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 11.3 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 50.9 (59-for-116) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 46 career double-digit scoring games (including 10 this season) – is averaging 10.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.2 (359-for-715) percent through 91 collegiate outings and 62 starts. He requires 29 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 70 career blocks and 21st with 443 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 efforts include a 10-point, nine-rebound effort to fuel Cal Poly's Big West-opening victory versus CSUN (Dec. 22) and a 10-point showing at Hawai'i (Dec. 31). The only Mustang to start all 15 games this season, Taylor – who has produced eight double-digit scoring games in his last 13 outings – also leads Cal Poly with 5.1 rebounds per game.

CHANCE THE SCORER: An 11-point performance during Cal Poly's 67-57 home victory against CSUN (Dec. 29) marked graduate guard Chance Hunter's sixth double-digit scoring game as a Mustang. Hunter also scored a Cal Poly-best 18 points against Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20) before adding 15 versus California Baptist (Dec. 3). A starter in 14 of 15 matchups, Hunter is Cal Poly's third leading scorer with 8.4 points per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through three 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). Cal Poly's fifth leading scorer with 7.3 points per game, Sanders – with eight starts in 12 appearances – ranks second in the lineup with an 82.1 (23-for-28) 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 44.2 (46-for-104) percent field goal mark and fourth with 8.1 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.