Cal Poly Hosts UC Davis for Saturday 3 p.m. Matchup

Saturday, February 25

San Luis Obispo, CA

3 p.m.

UC Davis

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Hosts UC Davis for Saturday 3 p.m. Matchup

2/24/2023 11:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Playing two of its final three regular season games at home inside Mott Athletics Center, the Cal Poly men's basketball program hosts UC Davis on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tip time is 3 p.m. on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (7-22, 1-16), which opened Big West action with a Dec. 29 home victory against CSUN before dropping 16 straight – most recently edged late at home by conference leader UC Irvine, 59-56 (Feb. 20). Ranked 75th among NCAA Division I programs with a 74.3 percent free throw mark, Cal Poly – following Monday's setback to UC Irvine – remained in 11th place in the Big West standings. Winners of two of its last three matchups, UC Davis (16-12, 9-7) sits in sixth place in the standings. The Aggies saw their scheduled Thursday, Feb. 23 matchup at Cal State Fullerton cancelled due to limited student-athlete availability.

FOLLOW CAL POLY: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play coverage for ESPN+ of Saturday's matchup versus UC Davis 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 UC DAVIS: With UC Davis overturning a 13-point deficit with five minutes to play to capture this year's season series opener, 65-63 (Jan. 21), Cal Poly has defeated the Aggies just once in the last 12 meetings. That win was an 82-74 home decision on Jan. 15, 2022. Cal Poly's oldest continual series, the Mustangs lead the all-time matchup, 36-31, dating to the first meeting – a 49-48 UC Davis home win – on Dec. 30, 1946. UC Davis, however, leads the Division I series, 24-15.

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 10.3 points per game following his most recent effort, an 15-point outing versus Big West leader UC Irvine (Feb. 20), and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Fifth among Big West players with a 46.5 (106-for-228) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 52 career double-digit scoring games (including a team leading 16 this season) – is averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 49.8 (407-for-818) percent through 105 collegiate outings and 72 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks fifth all-time 85 career blocks, 15th with 490 collegiate rebounds and 19th with 1,102 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 or matched the total four times this year with a career best 23 points at Pacific (Nov. 28), 20 versus Portland State (Dec. 10), 18 against UC San Diego (Jan. 19) and 17 at Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 18). Averaging 13.3 points per Cal Poly's last 11 games, Stevenson remains second in the lineup at 9.6 points per night. The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson leads Cal Poly with an 84.7 (50-for-59) percent free throw mark while also ranking second with a 45.7 (102-for-223) 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 20 of 29 matchups following an offseason transfer from California Baptist, Hunter ranks second in Cal Poly's lineup with 4.2 rebounds per game and third with 8.8 points per night.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's third leading scorer at 8.7 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 4.9 rebounds 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 … 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).