Mustangs Close Road Trip Saturday at Weber State on ESPN+

Saturday, December 9

Ogden, UT

6 p.m.

Weber State

Photo by: Owen Main

Mustangs Close Road Trip Saturday at Weber State on ESPN+

12/7/2023 2:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW (pdf)

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly men's basketball program plays its final scheduled non-conference road matchup of the season and completes a three-game road trip when visiting Weber State on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tip time from the Dee Events Center is 6 p.m. PT (7 p.m. MT) on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (3-6), which looks to snap a two-game slide having most recently dropped a double-overtime decision at Oregon State (Dec. 4). Hosting Cal Poly for just the second time and first since a 2013 CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament opening-round matchup, Weber State (4-3) resumes action following a 70-54 setback at Utah Valley (Dec. 5). Since upending then-No. 23 Saint Mary's on the road, 61-57 (Nov. 12), Weber State has defeated just one Division I opponent in five outings.

CAL POLY VERSUS WEBER STATE: Cal Poly has dropped both previous meetings with Weber State, comprising a March 20, 2013 CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament opening-round matchup and a 74-45 setback inside Mott Athletics Center last December.

SANDERS INCREASES SCORING LEAD: After missing Cal Poly's final six games last season through injury, senior guard Kobe Sanders has scored in double digits in all nine games this year – including matching a career high with 22 points to fuel Cal Poly's Nov. 29 overtime home victory against San Jose State – and ranks fifth among Big West players with a team leading 17.6 points per game. Having also scored 20 points against both Portland State (Nov. 18) and Idaho (Dec. 2) and 19 at Oregon State (Dec. 4), Sanders also ranks second among Big West players with an 88.7 (47-for-53) percent free throw mark. Now with 25 career double-digit scoring games, Sanders is averaging 7.9 points per 76 collegiate outings.

THE GRADUATE: Playing for the first time in two years after missing last season through injury, graduate guard Jarred Hyder – having scored in double digits five times this year – ranks second in the lineup with 11.0 points per game. The Big West's leader at 34.3 minutes per game, Hyder recently scored 12 points in Cal Poly's 81-77 overtime home victory against San Jose State (Nov. 29) and enjoyed a 25-point effort at Wyoming (Nov. 9) – a performance one point shy of his career best 26 while a freshman at Fresno State on Nov. 10, 2019. An offseason transfer from California, Hyder – a starter in all nine games – also scored 15 points at Denver.

Q-BALL: A career best 21-point performance at Oregon State (Dec. 4) marked the fourth double-digit scoring performance for freshman guard Quentin Jones in Cal Poly's last six outings. A starter in eight of nine matchups, Jones now ranks third in Cal Poly's lineup with 10.1 points per game. He also leads the Mustangs with 1.4 steals per game.

BACK IN THE GREEN: A 48.7 (188-for-386) percent career shooter and ranked 10th in program history with 57 career blocks, graduate forward Tuukka Jaakkola – after performing for Cal Poly from 2018-22, earning his bachelors degree and departing the university – has returned to utilize his renewable 2020-21 season. As one of a handful, if not the only Division I player in this situation, Jaakkola appeared in all 28 of Cal Poly's games during his 2021-22 senior season. With 112 career games played for Cal Poly, Jaakkola needs just 17 more appearances to surpass guard Jamal Johnson's program record of 128 (2010-14).

LOOKING AHEAD (DEC. 18/21): Following a nine-day break, Cal Poly completes Big West preparations when hosting Eastern Washington (Monday, Dec. 18) for the first time in 19 seasons and Omaha (Thursday, Dec. 21) for the first time in 33 years. Cal Poly's matchup with Eastern Washington is the first between the two sides since a Dec. 23, 2005 Mustangs road loss. The visit from Omaha marks just the second all-time matchup between the Mustangs and Mavericks.

ETC.: Cal Poly is its 30th Division I season this year and 80th as a four-year program … Cal Poly improved to 48-1 all-time against non-Division I opposition with an 80-62 home victory against Division III La Verne (Nov. 6) … against La Verne, Cal Poly also prevailed in a season opener for the fourth straight year … Cal Poly's Nov. 9 matchup at Denver marked the programs first all-time matchup with the Pioneers with the Mustangs having now faced all nine current Summit League members … Cal Poly played the program's first all-time game in the state of Wyoming and the first game ever against Wyoming while having now faced all 11 current Mountain West Conference programs during a Nov. 11 visit to Laramie … Cal Poly has now faced all nine current Summit League members in its program history following a 61-60 victory against first-time opponent St. Thomas (Nov. 17) … senior guard Kobe Sanders was named to California Baptist's Lancer Joust all-tournament team (Nov. 17-19) after averaging 16.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and shooting 51.3 percent in three matchups … Cal Poly's double-overtime matchup at Oregon State (Dec. 4) marked the program's lengthiest game since a two-overtime setback versus CSUN (Feb. 10, 2022).