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Sanders Scores Over 30 Again; Cal Poly Comes Up Short at UCSB
2/29/2024 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Four Mustangs reached double figures and senior Kobe Sanders poured in a game-high 31 points, but Cal Poly men's basketball fell at UC Santa Barbara 83-75 on Thursday night.
Sanders knocked down all 11 of his free attempts and shot 9-of-17 from the field to help his season point total reach 492, currently 12th-most all-time by a Mustang in a season. Across his last two games, Sanders has tallied 66 points while going 20-for-21 from the charity stripe.
A three-pointer by Sanders less than three minutes into the second half allowed Cal Poly to take its third lead of the night at 40-39, but the Gauchos went a 13-2 run following the basket and never trailed again.
The Mustangs fell behind 15-4 early, but slowly clawed their way back thanks to graduate student Jarred Hyder and freshman Quentin Jones, who each converted a pair of three pointers.
With 6:36 left in the first half and Cal Poly trailing 26-20, a made basket by junior Joel Armotrading sparked an 8-2 run by the Mustangs. Jones tied the game at 28-28 with 4:27 left in the first half when he buried a deep three pointer as the shot clock expired. Then Cal Poly took its first lead of the night just over a minute later when a steal by a Hyder lead to a layup by Armotrading on the fastbreak.
The two teams traded blows down the stretch and UCSB carried a 37-34 advantage into halftime. Hyder paced the Mustangs with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the first half.
Unfortunately, a dry spell by the Mustangs in the opening moments of the second half allowed the Gauchos to create enough separation to hold off Cal Poly down the stretch.
Sanders accounted for 13 of the Mustangs' final 15 points in the game, allowing Cal Poly to pull within 6 points of UCSB with 10 seconds left. Sanders finished with 23 points in the second half — more than any other played scored in Thursday's matchup.
Hyder tallied 13 points and a season-high seven rebounds, and Jones and Armotrading collected 12 and 10 points respectively.
Cal Poly hosts its final home game of the season at 7 p.m. Saturday against Cal State Bakersfield.
