Cal Poly Closes 2023-24 Season at UC Irvine, UC San Diego

Thursday, March 7

Irvine, CA

7 p.m.

UC Irvine

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Closes 2023-24 Season at UC Irvine, UC San Diego

3/6/2024 12:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

COMPLETE WEEKLY PREVIEW (pdf)

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's basketball program helps decide the 2024 Big West regular season championship as the Mustangs close the year visiting the top two teams in the conference standings – leader UC Irvine on Thursday, March 9 (7 p.m.) and second place UC San Diego on Saturday, March 9 (4 p.m.). Both matchups will be broadcast on ESPN+ for Cal Poly, previously eliminated from contention for the March 13-16 Big West Championship, but facing a UC Irvine (15-3, 22-8) program that leads UC San Diego (20-10, 14-4) by one game atop the conference standings with two matchups remaining. UC Irvine can clinch a share of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the Big West Championship with a win Thursday. UC San Diego, in its final year of Division I reclassification and ineligible for the Big West championship, hosts third place UC Davis (17-12, 12-6) Thursday before welcoming Cal Poly. The Tritons would need to sweep both matchups this week and have UC Irvine split its remaining two games for a share of the title.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE: Since a 61-58 Big West Tournament semifinal victory against UC Irvine on March 14, 2014, Cal Poly has topped the Anteaters just twice in the previous 21 outings – a 79-66 road win (Jan. 26, 2017) and 65-54 home victory (March 3, 2022). UC Irvine leads both the all-time (43-23) and Division I (40-20) series topping the Mustangs during the Feb. 1 season series opener, 73-59.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC SAN DIEGO: The Tritons claimed just their third all-time victory against Cal Poly – and second since Dec. 20, 1969 – with an 86-61 season series-opening victory inside Mott Athletics Center (Jan. 13). Cal Poly leads both the all-time (9-3) and Division I (4-2) series against UC San Diego.

SANDERS SETS AN HISTORIC SCORING PACE: Now with five 30-point games this season after scoring 31 at UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 29), senior guard Kobe Sanders' 35-point effort against UC Riverside (Jan. 24) marked the highest regulation scoring game by a Mustang since guard Lorenzo Keeler finished with 38 at UC Irvine on Jan. 4, 2010. Ranked third among Big West players with 19.1 points per game, Sanders also owns a 33-point performance versus CSUN (Dec. 28), a 32-point showing at Hawai'i (Jan. 27) and a 30-point effort against Omaha (Dec. 21). After missing Cal Poly's final six games last season through injury, Sanders has scored in double digits in all 27 appearances this year – including a 24-point night against Cal State Bakersfield (March 2), a 23-point game against UC Irvine (Feb. 1) and 22-point efforts against San Jose State (Nov. 29) and UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 6). Having led Cal Poly in scoring 18 times this season, Sanders – now with 43 career double-digit scoring games – is averaging 9.8 points per 98 collegiate outings. On the boards, Sanders grabbed a career high 10 rebounds at Hawai'i (Jan. 27) to complete a first career double-double. With six games of five-plus assists – including a career best nine against Long Beach State (Jan. 4) – ranks 12th in the Big West with a team leading 3.0 assists per game. Equally proficient from the free throw line as the floor, Sanders – entering Thursday's matchup at UC Irvine having converted 55 of his last 63 attempts – ranks 35th among NCAA Division I players with an 87.8 (159-for-181) percent free throw mark.

SANDERS RISING IN THE RECORD BOOK: One of the nation's top free throw shooters, Kobe Sanders now ranks third in Cal Poly single season history with 159 free throws and sixth with an 87.8 percent free throw mark. Poised to become Cal Poly's highest scorer in 24 seasons, Sanders also sits eighth in single season history at 19.1 points per night and 516 total points.

SANDERS ON VERGE OF HISTORY: On pace to reach 100 collegiate appearances during Cal Poly's final two games, Kobe Sanders requires just 44 more points to become the 26th player in program history to reach 1,000 for his career.

THE GRADUATE: Playing for the first time in two years after missing last season through injury, graduate guard Jarred Hyder – having scored in double digits 12 times this year – ranks second in the lineup with 10.4 points per game. Second in the Big West averaging a team leading 33.7 minutes per game, Hyder's most recent standout performance was a 13-point effort at UC Santa Barbara after finishing with 21 at Long Beach State (Feb. 10) and 15 against CSUN (Dec. 28). His Cal Poly best 25-point effort at Wyoming (Nov. 9) was a performance one shy of his career best 26 while a freshman at Fresno State on Nov. 10, 2019. An offseason transfer from California, Hyder has started 23 of 30 games for the Mustangs.

Q-BALL: An 11-point, 10-rebound effort versus Hawai'i (Feb. 15) marked a first career double-double for freshman guard Quentin Jones, who most recently chalked up an 11th career double-digit scoring effort with 12 at UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 29). Third in Cal Poly's lineup with 9.5 points per games, Jones also owns a career best 22-point night versus Long Beach State (Jan. 4), a 21-point effort at Oregon State (Dec. 4), another 19-point game at Long Beach State (Feb. 10) and a 17-point performance versus St. Thomas (Nov. 17). A starter in a team leading 29 of 30 matchups, Jones ranks eighth among Big West players with 1.5 steals per game and 12th at 31.5 minutes per outing.

HISTORY MADE IN THE GREEN: A 51.1 (244-for-478) percent career shooter and ranked seventh in program history with 69 career blocks, graduate forward Tuukka Jaakkola – after performing for Cal Poly from 2018-22, earning his bachelor's degree and departing the university – has returned to utilize his renewable 2020-21 season. As one of a handful, if not the only Division I player in this situation, Jaakkola played in all 28 of Cal Poly's games during his 2021-22 senior season. Having appeared in 28 of 30 matchups this year with 21 starts, Jaakkola scored 11 points against Eastern Washington (Dec. 18) to chalk up his first double-digit scoring performance since a 10-point outing against Cal State Fullerton on March 9, 2021. Jaakkola enters Thursday's matchup at UC Santa Barbara having reached double-digit scoring figures in three of his last four matchups, most recently finishing with 10 points against Hawai'i (Feb. 15). Including a season best 15-point effort at UC Riverside (Jan. 11), Jaakkola ranks fourth in the lineup with 6.3 points per game. He also grabbed a season best nine rebounds against both Eastern Washington (Dec. 18) and Omaha (Dec. 21). Already the program's all-time leader for games played (134), Jaakkola became the first Mustang in program history with at least 130 appearances versus Hawai'i (Feb. 15).

FROM LONDON WITH BLOCKS: Recording a second five-block game this season against CSUN (Dec. 28), junior center Joel Armotrading ranks fourth among Big West players in total blocks (35) and blocks per game (1.3). His most recent standout performances were four-block efforts at UC Riverside (Jan. 11) and versus UC Davis (Feb. 3) after opening the season with five against La Verne (Nov. 6). An offseason transfer from two-year College of Southern Idaho, Armotrading produced his first Division I double-double with 10 points and a career best 13 rebounds against UC Davis. He remains Cal Poly's leader with 4.7 rebounds per game.

MORE PERFECT: With his 17-for-17 performance from the free throw line against CSUN (Dec. 28), guard Kobe Sanders eclipsed the Cal Poly single game record of 16 conversions, equaled twice by guard Lorenzo Keeler during the 2009-10 season and established by forward Gabe Stephenson in the 2005-06 campaign. Sanders also enjoyed the top free throw shooting game by any Division I player this season before Markeese Hastings of Robert Morris also finished 17-for-17 against Detroit Mercy on Jan. 17. The 17 conversions are the fourth highest total in the nation this season.

ETC.: Cal Poly is its 30th Division I season this year and 80th as a four-year program … Cal Poly improved to 48-1 all-time against non-Division I opposition with an 80-62 home victory against Division III La Verne (Nov. 6) … against La Verne, Cal Poly also prevailed in a season opener for the fourth straight year … Cal Poly's Nov. 9 matchup at Denver marked the programs first all-time matchup with the Pioneers with the Mustangs having now faced all nine current Summit League members … Cal Poly played the program's first all-time game in the state of Wyoming and the first game ever against Wyoming while having now faced all 11 current Mountain West Conference programs during a Nov. 11 visit to Laramie … Cal Poly has now faced all nine current Summit League members in its program history following a 61-60 victory against first-time opponent St. Thomas (Nov. 17) … senior guard Kobe Sanders was named to California Baptist's Lancer Joust all-tournament team (Nov. 17-19) after averaging 16.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and shooting 51.3 percent in three matchups … Cal Poly's double-overtime matchup at Oregon State (Dec. 4) marked the program's lengthiest game since a two-overtime setback versus CSUN (Feb. 10, 2022) … Cal Poly's 50-point second half at Hawai'i (Jan. 27) marked the highest total the Rainbow Warriors have allowed this season … the 43 free throw attempts by Hawai'i were the fourth highest opponent total in program history … graduate forward Tuukka Jaakkola became Cal Poly's all-time games played leader with his 129th career appearance at Long Beach State (Feb. 10), surpassing guard Jamal Johnson's previous mark set from 2010-14.