Cal Poly Visits Cal State Fullerton Saturday, Hosts UC Irvine Monday

Saturday, February 18

Fullerton, CA

4 P.M.

Cal State Fullerton

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Visits Cal State Fullerton Saturday, Hosts UC Irvine Monday

2/17/2023 2:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY RELEASE

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Just two road games remain on the Cal Poly men's basketball program's regular season schedule with the first occurring on Saturday, Feb. 20 with a 4 p.m. matchup against Cal State Fullerton. The Mustangs then return back home to host Big West co-leader UC Irvine on Monday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (7-20, 1-14), which opened Big West action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN before dropping 14 straight – most recently falling to CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 15), 70-62. Ranked 76th among NCAA Division I programs with a 74.4 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly – following Wednesday's setback to CSU Bakersfield – remained in 11th place in the Big West standings. With five wins in its last six outings, Cal State Fullerton (15-12, 9-6) has moved into fifth place in the Big West standings – three games behind joint leaders UC Irvine (18-8, 11-3) and UC Santa Barbara (20-5, 18-8). The Big West's leading three-point shooting side at 38.2 percent and ranked second with a 47.5 percent field goal figure and 76.2 points per game, UC Irvine enters its Saturday afternoon home matchup with UC Davis having won three straight.

FOLLOW CAL POLY: Both Saturday's matchup at Cal State Fullerton and Monday's game with UC Irvine will be streamed via ESPN+ HERE … Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer has the audio play-by-play call of both games 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 State Fullerton's Jan. 28 victory at Cal Poly marked just the second meeting between the two sides in the last three seasons. Cal Poly's last win against Cal State Fullerton was an 87-82 triumph during the opening round of the 2021 Big West Tournament. Cal Poly leads the all-time series (39-36), but Cal State Fullerton tops the Division I series (28-24).

CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE: Cal Poly's 65-54 home victory against UC Irvine on March 3, 2022 marks the program's only triumph against the Anteaters in the last 12 meetings. UC Irvine leads both the all-time (41-23) and Division I (38-20) series.

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 10.1 points per game following a 17-point outing at UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 2) and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Fourth among Big West players with a 47.4 (99-for-209) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 50 career double-digit scoring games (including a team leading 14 this season) – is averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.1 (400-for-799) percent through 103 collegiate outings and 71 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks fifth all-time 84 career blocks, 15th with 485 collegiate rebounds and 22nd with 1,076 points.

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). Averaging 13.2 points per Cal Poly's last nine games, Stevenson now ranks second in the lineup at 9.3 points per night. The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson leads Cal Poly with an 85.7 (42-for-49) percent free throw mark while also ranking second with a 46.1 (94-for-204) percent field goal mark.

CHANCE THE SCORER: Graduate guard Chance Hunter's first double-double as a Mustang against CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 15) comprised 23 points (matching the highest total by a Cal Poly player this season) while also equaling a career high for rebounds (13). Now with 10 double-digit scoring games, Hunter has also enjoyed 19 points against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 7) and 18 versus Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 20). A starter in 18 of 27 matchups following an offseason transfer from California Baptist, Hunter ranks fourth in Cal Poly's lineup with 9.0 points per game.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's third leading scorer at 9.1 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). Taylor, who has produced 12 double-digit scoring games this year, also leads Cal Poly with 5.0 rebounds per game.

SANDERS IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Junior guard Kobe Sanders has twice led Cal Poly in scoring through 15 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, but ranks third in the lineup in Big West play at 9.0 points per 15 conference games. With 20 starts in 24 appearances, Sanders also ranks second in the lineup with a 77.8 (42-for-54) 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).