Tuesday, March 7
Henderson, NV
8:30 p.m.
vs
Long Beach State
Photo by: Owen Main
Mustangs Face Long Beach State Tuesday in Big West Championships Opener
3/6/2023 12:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW | BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS CENTRAL | INTERACTIVE MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS BRACKET
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Seeded No. 10 for the 2023 Big West Championships, the Cal Poly men's basketball program faces seventh-seeded Long Beach State in the Tuesday, March 7 opening round. Tip time from the Dollar Loan Center (Henderson, Nev.) is 8:30 p.m. with action streamed on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (7-24, 1-18), which claimed its lone conference tournament title in 2014. The winner of Tuesday's second opening-round matchup (No. 8 CSU Bakersfield meets No. 9 CSUN in the first at 6 p.m.) advances to the quarterfinals to face No. 2 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, March 9 at 6 p.m. After defeating CSUN to open Big West play on Dec. 29, Cal Poly dropped its ensuing 18 matchups – most recently closing the regular season with a 73-72 overtime home loss to third-seeded UC Riverside (March 4). Long Beach State (17-15, 11-9), meanwhile, closed the regular season with four defeats in its final six games, falling into seventh place in the standings with a 93-92, double-overtime loss at UC Davis (March 4). The Beach leads the Big West with 76.8 points per game while also conceding a conference high 74.0 points per night. Meeting Long Beach State in the Big West Championships for the first time since a 2010 quarterfinal loss, Cal Poly dropped both regular season matchups by an average of 18.5 points per setback.
MEDIA ADVISORY, WE ARE CAL POLY: When referring to any Cal Poly athletics program, please use only "Cal Poly" to denote the school. Please refrain from using names such as "Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo," "Cal Poly-SLO," "CPSU," "Cal Poly State" and "Polytechnic State University." Cal Poly is a separate institution from Division II Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly Humboldt.
FOLLOW CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play for each of Cal Poly's Big West Championships games for ESPN 1280 in San Luis Obispo County and on GoPoly.com HERE … streaming video of every Big West Championships game will be available through ESPN+ with Tursday's game HERE ... with live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.
CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cal Poly is 11-17 in 18 previous Big West Championships appearances and, aside from capturing the 2014 title, the Mustangs have advanced to the championship game in 2003 and 2007. Cal Poly, however, has won just one game since capturing its 2014 title, handing Cal State Fullerton an 87-82, opening-round loss in 2021 as a No. 10 seed before being eliminated by UC Irvine in the quarterfinals. Cal Poly has reached the semifinals in six of 18 Big West Tournament appearances (2003, 2006-07, 2012-14). Cal Poly's three semifinal losses occurred in 2006, when the fourth-seeded Mustangs fell versus No. 1 Pacific (68-57); 2012, when fourth-seeded Cal Poly dropped a 64-52 decision against No. 2 UC Santa Barbara, and in 2013, when a last-second Pacific shot eliminated third-seeded Cal Poly, 55-53. Overall, Cal Poly is 8-10 during its first tournament game, 3-3 in semifinal matchups and 1-2 in championship games.
CAL POLY VERSUS LONG BEACH STATE: After dropping both regular season matchups to Long Beach – a 77-58 road decision inside Walter Pyramid (Jan. 12) and 70-52 home decision inside Mott Athletics Center (Jan. 26) – Cal Poly looks to snap a six-game series slide against The Beach. Cal Poly's last victory against Long Beach State was a 92-75 home win on Feb. 5, 2020. Long Beach State leads both the all-time (57-33) and Division I (38-17) series.
CAL POLY VERSUS LONG BEACH STATE AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cal Poly has faced Long Beach State just twice prior in 18 Big West Championships appearances, falling to The Beach in the 2007 title game, 94-83, and 2010 quarterfinals, 79-69.
NO BETTER TIME THAN THE PRESENT: The lowest seed to have ever won the Big West Championships was … Cal Poly, which, seventh in 2014, knocked out No. 2 UC Santa Barbara, No. 1 UC Irvine and No. 5 CSUN to capture the title. Only one No. 10 seed has ever played for the Big West Championships title. That side was UC Irvine, which reached the 1994 championship before falling to top-seeded New Mexico State.
BIG WEST SEEDING: Tuesday's Big West Championships opening-round matchup marks the 12th consecutive postseason game where Cal Poly will play as a lower seed. Seeded 10th for a third successive year, Cal Poly also lost quarterfinal games as a lower seed from 2015-2018, played as the lower seed during all three matchups during the 2014 title run and was eliminated as a lower seed by Pacific in the 2013 semifinals. Cal Poly last played as a higher seed in 2013, eliminating sixth-seeded UC Davis in the quarterfinals, 64-41.
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 10.6 points per game following his most recent effort, a 19-point outing versus UC Riverside (March 4), and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Sixth among Big West players with a 46.8 (116-for-248) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 53 career double-digit scoring games (including a team leading 17 this season) – is averaging 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 49.8 (417-for-838) percent through 107 collegiate outings and 74 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks fifth all-time 88 career blocks, 14th with 498 collegiate rebounds and 17th with 1,130 points. Two more rebounds will allow Koroma the opportunity to become just the 10th player in program history with 1,000-plus point and 500-plus rebounds.
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 five times this year with a career best 32 points versus UC Riverside (March 4), 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 14.7 points per Cal Poly's last 13 games, Stevenson remains second in the lineup at 10.5 points per night. He also finished as Cal Poly's leading scorer in Big West play with 11.5 points per 19 conference games. The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson leads Cal Poly with an 86.3 (63-for-73) percent free throw mark while also ranking second with a 46.2 (117-for-253) 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 22 of 31 matchups following an offseason transfer from California Baptist, Hunter – pursuing a second master's degree at Cal Poly – ranks second in the lineup with 4.3 rebounds per game and third with 8.7 points per night.
TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer at 8.4 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) … Cal Poly's scheduled Thursday, March 2 visit to UC San Diego was cancelled due to COVID issues within the Triton program (the game will not be rescheduled).
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Seeded No. 10 for the 2023 Big West Championships, the Cal Poly men's basketball program faces seventh-seeded Long Beach State in the Tuesday, March 7 opening round. Tip time from the Dollar Loan Center (Henderson, Nev.) is 8:30 p.m. with action streamed on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (7-24, 1-18), which claimed its lone conference tournament title in 2014. The winner of Tuesday's second opening-round matchup (No. 8 CSU Bakersfield meets No. 9 CSUN in the first at 6 p.m.) advances to the quarterfinals to face No. 2 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, March 9 at 6 p.m. After defeating CSUN to open Big West play on Dec. 29, Cal Poly dropped its ensuing 18 matchups – most recently closing the regular season with a 73-72 overtime home loss to third-seeded UC Riverside (March 4). Long Beach State (17-15, 11-9), meanwhile, closed the regular season with four defeats in its final six games, falling into seventh place in the standings with a 93-92, double-overtime loss at UC Davis (March 4). The Beach leads the Big West with 76.8 points per game while also conceding a conference high 74.0 points per night. Meeting Long Beach State in the Big West Championships for the first time since a 2010 quarterfinal loss, Cal Poly dropped both regular season matchups by an average of 18.5 points per setback.
MEDIA ADVISORY, WE ARE CAL POLY: When referring to any Cal Poly athletics program, please use only "Cal Poly" to denote the school. Please refrain from using names such as "Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo," "Cal Poly-SLO," "CPSU," "Cal Poly State" and "Polytechnic State University." Cal Poly is a separate institution from Division II Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly Humboldt.
FOLLOW CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: Chris Sylvester provides play-by-play for each of Cal Poly's Big West Championships games for ESPN 1280 in San Luis Obispo County and on GoPoly.com HERE … streaming video of every Big West Championships game will be available through ESPN+ with Tursday's game HERE ... with live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.
CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cal Poly is 11-17 in 18 previous Big West Championships appearances and, aside from capturing the 2014 title, the Mustangs have advanced to the championship game in 2003 and 2007. Cal Poly, however, has won just one game since capturing its 2014 title, handing Cal State Fullerton an 87-82, opening-round loss in 2021 as a No. 10 seed before being eliminated by UC Irvine in the quarterfinals. Cal Poly has reached the semifinals in six of 18 Big West Tournament appearances (2003, 2006-07, 2012-14). Cal Poly's three semifinal losses occurred in 2006, when the fourth-seeded Mustangs fell versus No. 1 Pacific (68-57); 2012, when fourth-seeded Cal Poly dropped a 64-52 decision against No. 2 UC Santa Barbara, and in 2013, when a last-second Pacific shot eliminated third-seeded Cal Poly, 55-53. Overall, Cal Poly is 8-10 during its first tournament game, 3-3 in semifinal matchups and 1-2 in championship games.
CAL POLY VERSUS LONG BEACH STATE: After dropping both regular season matchups to Long Beach – a 77-58 road decision inside Walter Pyramid (Jan. 12) and 70-52 home decision inside Mott Athletics Center (Jan. 26) – Cal Poly looks to snap a six-game series slide against The Beach. Cal Poly's last victory against Long Beach State was a 92-75 home win on Feb. 5, 2020. Long Beach State leads both the all-time (57-33) and Division I (38-17) series.
CAL POLY VERSUS LONG BEACH STATE AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cal Poly has faced Long Beach State just twice prior in 18 Big West Championships appearances, falling to The Beach in the 2007 title game, 94-83, and 2010 quarterfinals, 79-69.
NO BETTER TIME THAN THE PRESENT: The lowest seed to have ever won the Big West Championships was … Cal Poly, which, seventh in 2014, knocked out No. 2 UC Santa Barbara, No. 1 UC Irvine and No. 5 CSUN to capture the title. Only one No. 10 seed has ever played for the Big West Championships title. That side was UC Irvine, which reached the 1994 championship before falling to top-seeded New Mexico State.
BIG WEST SEEDING: Tuesday's Big West Championships opening-round matchup marks the 12th consecutive postseason game where Cal Poly will play as a lower seed. Seeded 10th for a third successive year, Cal Poly also lost quarterfinal games as a lower seed from 2015-2018, played as the lower seed during all three matchups during the 2014 title run and was eliminated as a lower seed by Pacific in the 2013 semifinals. Cal Poly last played as a higher seed in 2013, eliminating sixth-seeded UC Davis in the quarterfinals, 64-41.
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 10.6 points per game following his most recent effort, a 19-point outing versus UC Riverside (March 4), and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Sixth among Big West players with a 46.8 (116-for-248) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 53 career double-digit scoring games (including a team leading 17 this season) – is averaging 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 49.8 (417-for-838) percent through 107 collegiate outings and 74 starts. The 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Mustang, Koroma ranks fifth all-time 88 career blocks, 14th with 498 collegiate rebounds and 17th with 1,130 points. Two more rebounds will allow Koroma the opportunity to become just the 10th player in program history with 1,000-plus point and 500-plus rebounds.
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 five times this year with a career best 32 points versus UC Riverside (March 4), 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 14.7 points per Cal Poly's last 13 games, Stevenson remains second in the lineup at 10.5 points per night. He also finished as Cal Poly's leading scorer in Big West play with 11.5 points per 19 conference games. The Dec. 5 Big West Player of the Week honoree, Stevenson leads Cal Poly with an 86.3 (63-for-73) percent free throw mark while also ranking second with a 46.2 (117-for-253) 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 22 of 31 matchups following an offseason transfer from California Baptist, Hunter – pursuing a second master's degree at Cal Poly – ranks second in the lineup with 4.3 rebounds per game and third with 8.7 points per night.
TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer at 8.4 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) … Cal Poly's scheduled Thursday, March 2 visit to UC San Diego was cancelled due to COVID issues within the Triton program (the game will not be rescheduled).
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