Cal Poly Meets UC Santa Barbara Thursday in Big West Championships Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 9

Henderson, NV

6 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: Ian Billings Photography

Cal Poly Meets UC Santa Barbara Thursday in Big West Championships Quarterfinals

3/8/2023 3:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE GAME PREVIEW | BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS CENTRAL | INTERACTIVE MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS BRACKET

HENDERSON, Nev. – Advancing to the Big West Championships quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons, the 10th-seeded Cal Poly men's basketball program squares off with No. 2 UC Santa Barbara in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, March 9 inside the Dollar Loan Center. Action will be streamed via ESPN+ for Cal Poly (8-24), which snapped an 18-game slide and prevailed for the first time in 2023 with an 88-68, opening-round triumph against seventh-seeded Long Beach State Tuesday evening. Thursday's winner advances to face either No. 3 UC Riverside (21-11) or No. 6 UC Davis (18-13) in a 6 p.m. semifinal matchup on Friday, March 10. Against UC Santa Barbara (24-7) – which shared the Big West regular season title alongside top-seeded UC Irvine (22-10) – Cal Poly seeks its first Big West Championships semifinal appearance since capturing the 2014 title. UC Santa Barbara, which swept the regular season series from Cal Poly after the Mustangs were edged at home, 62-57 (Jan. 7), and away, 68-62 (Feb. 2), leads all Big West programs with a 49.5 percent field goal mark.

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+ (Thursday's game HERE) with live stats available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cal Poly is 12-17 in 19 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 twice since capturing its 2014 title, handing Cal State Fullerton (2021) and Long Beach State (2023) opening-round setbacks. Cal Poly has reached the semifinals in six of 19 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 9-10 during its first tournament game, 3-3 in semifinal matchups and 1-2 in championship games.

CAL POLY OUSTS LONG BEACH STATE TO REACH BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS QUARTERFINALS (MARCH 7): Junior forward Brantly Stevenson scored a game high 28 points and graduate guard Nick Fleming added 16 – his highest total in 32 games as a Mustang – as Cal Poly advanced to the Big West Championships quarterfinals with an 88-68 opening-round victory against No. 7 Long Beach State. Trailing Long Beach State by five at halftime, Cal Poly opened the second period with a 23-8 run, shot 63.0 (17-for-27) percent from the floor during the second half, knocked down six of nine second-half three-point attempts and led by double digits for the final 11 minutes. Averaging 60.1 points per game entering Tuesday's matchup, Cal Poly's 88-point output was it's highest against a Division I opponent this season.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: The most frequent opponent in Cal Poly's program history with the 117th matchup occurring Thursday, UC Santa Barbara has won 11 straight against the Mustangs and 18 of the last 19 matchups after the Gauchos swept the regular season series. 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 (81-35) and Division I (47-14) series.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: With UC Santa Barbara the most frequent opponent in Cal Poly's history, the Mustangs have also met the Gauchos more times than any program in the Big West Championships. Having eliminated Cal Poly at the quarterfinal stage in 2018 (75-53) and 2015 (54-50), UC Santa Barbara takes a 4-3 edge into Thursday's matchup. Cal Poly's last postseason win against the Gauchos was a 69-38 quarterfinal victory to open its 2014 title run.

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: Thursday's Big West Championships quarterfinal matchup marks the 13th consecutive postseason game where Cal Poly will play as a lower seed. Seeded 10th for a third successive year, Cal Poly lost quarterfinal games as a lower seed from 2015-2018, played as the lower seed during all three matchups during its 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.

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 six times this year with a career best 32 points versus UC Riverside (March 4), 28 points against Long Beach State (March 7), 23 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 15.6 points per Cal Poly's last 14 games, Stevenson is now Cal Poly's leading scorer at 11.0 points per night. He 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 also leads Cal Poly with an 87.7 (71-for-81) percent free throw mark while also ranking second with a 46.8 (125-for-267) percent field goal mark.

KOROMA REMAINS CAL POLY'S CAREER CATALYST: One of Cal Poly's top two scorers for a third successive season, forward Alimamy Koroma ranks second in the lineup with 10.6 points per game following his most recent effort, a 10-point outing versus Long Beach State (March 7), and a season high 23-point performance versus Idaho (Nov. 23). Fifth among Big West players with a 47.6 (121-for-254) percent field goal mark, Koroma – with 54 career double-digit scoring games (including a team leading 18 this season) – is averaging 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 (422-for-844) percent through 108 collegiate outings and 75 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 503 collegiate rebounds and 16th with 1,140 points. With five rebounds against Long Beach State (March 7), Koroma became just the 10th player in program history with 1,000-plus point and 500-plus rebounds.

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 23 of 32 matchups following an offseason transfer from California Baptist, Hunter – pursuing a second master's degree at Cal Poly – ranks second in the lineup with 4.4 rebounds per game and third with 8.5 points per night.

TAYLOR MADE OUTPUT: Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer at 8.3 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 4.8 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) … Cal Poly prevailed against Long Beach State for the first time at the Big West Championships in three attempts with an 88-68 opening round victory (March 7).