CSUN
Mustangs Host CSUN Saturday in Big West Home Opener
12/6/2024 1:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Before resuming non-conference action in a week’s time, the Cal Poly men’s basketball program looks to secure an initial Big West victory when hosting CSUN on Saturday, Dec. 7. Tip time from Mott Athletics Center on ESPN+ is 5 p.m. for Cal Poly (5-5, 0-1), which began Big West action Thursday with a 77-66 setback at UC Davis. Still the Big West’s top-scoring program at 80.7 points per game, Cal Poly – under first-year head coach Mike DeGeorge – is averaging 14.9 more points per game than at the same stage last season. Fueling the scoring surge is Cal Poly’s three-point prowess as the Mustangs rank 37th among 355 NCAA Division I programs with 10.0 three-pointers made per game and 42nd with 28.6 three-pointers attempted per game. Following Saturday’s matchup with CSUN, Cal Poly closes the calendar year with three remaining non-conference games before resuming Big West play Jan. 2 against UC Irvine. CSUN (6-3, 0-1), meanwhile, lost for just the second time since the opening week of the season with a 68-64 Big West-opening home defeat to UC Riverside on Thursday. The Matadors rank third in the Big West with 79.9 points per game.
CAL POLY VERSUS CSUN: The second most frequent opponent in Cal Poly’s history, CSUN takes a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup – the 115th between the two sides since Feb. 5, 1960. Cal Poly leads the all-time series, 58-56, with CSUN holding the edge as Division I opponents, 31-22.
KOONCE RETAINS THE SCORING LEAD: A double-digit scorer in all but two games – and those two were nine-point outings – graduate guard Owen Koonce, following a career high 30-point effort in Cal Poly’s victory at Stanford (Nov. 30), enters Saturday’s matchup with CSUN leading the Mustangs and ranked eighth among Big West players with 16.1 points per game. The Dec. 2 Big West Player of the Week selection, Koonce also ranks seventh in the Big West with 56.0 (61-for-109) percent field goal mark. One of only two Mustangs to start all 10 games, Koonce scored 18 points in his Mustang debut at San Francisco (Nov. 5) before adding 19 at Eastern Washington (Nov. 17) and at UC Davis (Dec. 5).
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
— College Insider Inc. (@collegeinsider) December 2, 2024
Cal Poly’s Owen Koonce has earned Lou Henson National Player of the Week honors. The 6-foot-5 senior posted a career-high 30 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in Saturday’s upset win at Stanford. He averaged 23.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and shot 72.5% from… pic.twitter.com/2i95SYgmK4
JESSUP EMERGES AS ONE OF NATION’S TOP THREE-POINT SHOOTERS: Having reached double-digit scoring figures in all but one outing, senior guard Isaac Jessup enters Saturday’s contest against CSUN ranked 12th among NCAA Division I players with 3.6 three-pointers per game, 19th with 29 three-pointers and 40th with a 46.8 (29-for-62) percent three-point mark. Having already knocked down five three-pointers in a game three times, Jessup’s most recent standout scoring performance was a 21-point effort at Stanford (Nov. 30) that was one shy of his career high. Jessup also scored 20 points at California in just his second Division I appearance and enjoyed 17-point efforts at Arizona State (Nov. 20) and versus Grambling State (Nov. 26).
THE GRADUATE: It took more than five years to better his career scoring high, but a 27-point performance at Arizona State (Nov. 20) that included seven three-pointers allowed guard Jarred Hyder a new collegiate best – and the graduate performer the third spot in Cal Poly’s lineup with 13.8 points per night. Hyder, whose previous scoring best was a 26-point effort while at freshman at Fresno State early in the 2019-20 season, has also scored 19 points this season against both San Francisco (Nov. 5) and Menlo College (Nov. 10) among six double-digit outings. A starter in all 34 appearances as a Mustang dating to last season, Hyder also leads Cal Poly and ranks second among Big West players at 33.0 minutes per game and ninth with 2.9 assists per game.
RINIKER’S PERCENTAGE POINTS: A year after shooting 63.8 percent for Division II Colorado Mesa, graduate guard Mac Riniker ranks ninth among Big West players with a 54.3 (44-for-81) percent mark. One of two Mustangs to start all 10 games alongside Owen Koonce, Riniker leads Cal Poly with 5.1 rebounds per game and ranks fourth with 10.6 points per night after notching a Cal Poly-best 15 at Eastern Washington (Nov. 17) and matching the total at Saint Mary’s (Nov. 23).
DEGEORGE TAKES THE MUSTANG REINS: Named Cal Poly’s sixth head coach at the Division I level on March 26, Mike DeGeorge arrived in San Luis Obispo from Division II Colorado Mesa after directing the Mavericks to 141 wins in six seasons, three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances – including Sweet 16 trips in 2022 and 2024. Bringing more than two decades of head coaching experience to Cal Poly, DeGeorge’s squads at Colorado Mesa were known for their offensive prowess. During the 2023-24 season, Colorado Mesa led Division II in effective field goal percentage (.596), finished third in three-pointers per game (11.4) and 15th in points per game (11.4). Both of DeGeorge’s assistant coaches from Colorado Mesa – Kyle Bossier and BJ Andrews – joined Cal Poly in the offseason, as well as four transfers from Colorado Mesa.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following a week’s break for finals, Cal Poly resumes non-conference play at San Jose State on Saturday, Dec. 14. Tip time is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly, which seeks its fifth win against the Spartans in the last six meetings dating to the 2011-12 season.
ETC.: Cal Poly is in its 31st Division I season and 81st as a four-year program … Cal Poly’s Nov. 5 matchup at San Francisco marked the earliest opening date to a season in program history … Cal Poly’s 93.3 (14-for-15) percent free throw mark at San Francisco (Nov. 5) marked the fourth highest single game figure in program history … since transitioning to the Division I level prior to the 1994-95 season, Cal Poly is 49-1 against non-Division I programs following a 99-66 home victory against Division II Menlo College (Nov. 10) … Cal Poly’s 99-66 home win against Menlo College (Nov. 10) marked head coach Mike DeGeorge’s first victory in charge of Cal Poly while the program’s 75-71 win versus Seattle (Nov. 14) was the first against a Division I opponent … Jarred Hyder’s seven three-pointers at Arizona State (Nov. 20) were one shy of the program single game record recorded three previous times and most recently by Dawin Whiten (Feb. 10, 2007) … Cal Poly’s Nov. 26 home victory against Grambling State marked the program’s first all-time matchup with the Tigers … Cal Poly’s Dec. 5 Big West opener at UC Davis marked the earliest conference start date in program history.
