Second Half Saturday Rally Comes Up Short versus UC Davis

Saturday, February 3

San Luis Obispo, CA

3 p.m.

4-19,0-11Big West

UC Davis

14-8,9-2Big West

Team	1	2	F
UC Davis	25	34	59
Cal Poly	23	29	52

Gameday Program

Photo by: Owen Main

Second Half Saturday Rally Comes Up Short versus UC Davis

2/3/2024 6:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Junior center Joel Armotrading (above) produced his first Division I double-double with 10 points and a career high 13 rebounds Saturday afternoon, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program – after shorting an 18-point deficit against UC Davis to four with two minutes remaining – fell to the Aggies inside Mott Athletics Center, 59-52.

Senior guard Kobe Sanders supplied a game high 14 points for Cal Poly (4-19, 0-11), which trailed third place UC Davis (14-8, 9-2), 46-28, with nine minutes remaining. The Mustangs, however, kept UC Davis to just three field goals during the ensuing seven minutes with a Sanders three-pointer cutting the disadvantage to 53-49.

Aggies guard Elijah Pepper – the Big West's leading scorer at 21.0 points per game – helped keep Cal Poly at a distance with a jumper before the Mustangs committed a turnover and missed a three-pointer during their next two possessions.

With the Mustangs still trailing by six and forced to foul, Pepper sank all four free throw attempts down the stretch.

Guard Justin Page finished with a career best eight points for Cal Poly while fellow freshman Quentin Jones grabbed a collegiate high eight rebounds.

Armotrading also blocked four shots for Cal Poly, which kept UC Davis to a 37.0 (20-for-54) percent field goal mark.

Playing six of its final nine regular season games on the road, Cal Poly resumes action when visiting CSUN on Thursday, Feb. 8. Tip time on ESPN+ is 7 p.m.

Cal Poly held UC Davis to a 1-for-7 shooting start Saturday, but the Mustangs mustered just one field goal themselves during the opening six minutes. Cal Poly kept UC Davis to a 27.3 (6-for-22) percent shooting start from the floor, but the Aggies utilized back-to-back three-pointers from guard Ty Johnson and Pepper to assume the last of seven lead changes and go up 18-14 six minutes before the break.

With Page completing his new career scoring high before the break, Cal Poly eventually tied the matchup at 23-23 with a minute to go before taking a two-point deficit into the locker room.

UC Davis, however, scored 11 of the first 12 points to begin the second half, limiting Cal Poly to a 0-for-7 opening from the floor as the Aggies built their advantage to 36-24 with 15-and-a-half minutes to play.