UC Davis
Cal Poly Hosts UC Davis Thursday, Visits UC Irvine Saturday
1/14/2025 4:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Cal Poly Men's Basketball
Upcoming Matchups
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Closing a two-game home Thursday, Jan. 16, the Cal Poly men’s basketball program seeks its first Big West victory of the season when hosting UC Davis. Action continues Saturday, Jan. 18 at Big West leader UC Irvine. Tip time both evenings on ESPN+ is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (6-12, 0-6), which enters Thursday’s home matchup with eighth-place UC Davis (9-8, 3-3) trailing the Aggies by three games for the final spot for the March 12-15 Big West Championship. Ranked 58th among 355 NCAA Division I programs and second among Big West programs with 81.1 points per game, Cal Poly – under first-year head coach Mike DeGeorge – is averaging 17.2 more points per game than at the same stage last season. The Mustangs have scored 90-plus points in a game five times already this year after hitting the mark just twice during the previous four years combined. Fueling the scoring surge is Cal Poly’s three-point prowess as the Mustangs rank fifth nationally with 32.2 three-pointers attempted per game and 11th with 10.8 three-pointers made per game. Additionally, 11 different Mustangs have scored in double digits this season – the fourth highest total of any Division I program. UC Davis, which began Big West play in December with back-to-back victories – including a Dec. 5 home triumph against Cal Poly – enters Thursday’s meeting with the Mustangs having dropped three of its last four conference outings. UC Irvine (15-2, 5-0), meanwhile, has ascended to the top of the Big West standings after winning its conference matchups by an average of 13.4 points per outing.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC DAVIS: The Mustangs look to snap a six-game slide against UC Davis with Cal Poly last prevailing versus the Aggies at home on Jan. 15, 2022 (82-74). The Aggies captured this year’s season series opener at home, 77-66 (Dec. 5). Cal Poly leads the all-time series, 36-35, dating to the first meeting between the two sides on Dec. 30, 1946, but UC Davis leads the Division I series, 28-15.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE: The Anteaters – with a 98-89 overtime win at Cal Poly (Jan. 2) – furthered both their all-time (45-23) and Division I (42-20) series advantages versus Cal Poly. The Mustangs attempt to end a five-game slide against UC Irvine Saturday with Cal Poly last delivering a series win at home on March 3, 2022 (65-54).
KOONCE REMAINS CAL POLY’S OFFENSIVE CATALYST: A double-digit scorer in all but two games – and those two were nine-point outings – graduate guard Owen Koonce, following a career high 32-point effort at San Jose State (Dec. 14) and 30-point night in Cal Poly’s Nov. 30 victory at Stanford, enters Thursday’s matchup with UC Davis leading the Mustangs and ranked third among Big West players with a 43.0 (40-for-93) percent three-point mark and 88.5 (54-for-61) percent free throw mark, fourth with 18.3 points per game and sixth with a 54.5 (118-for-215) percent field goal figure. The Dec. 2 Big West Player of the Week selection, Koonce – averaging 21.1 points per Cal Poly’s last eight games – also tops the Mustangs with 5.3 rebounds per outing. One of only two Mustangs to start all 18 games, Koonce has also scored 23 points against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 11), 21 versus Denver (Dec. 17), 20 at Omaha (Dec. 21) and UC San Diego (Jan. 9), 19 at Eastern Washington (Nov. 17) and UC Davis (Dec. 5) and 18 in his Mustang debut at San Francisco (Nov. 5).
Calling all Mustang supporters and @CalPolyAlumni for a special pregame social event Thursday, Jan. 30 before Cal Poly's 6:30 p.m. matchup at Cal State Bakersfield! Registration link below.#RideHigh
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) January 10, 2025
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THE GRADUATE: Five years after establishing his initial collegiate scoring high while a freshman at Fresno State, guard Jarred Hyder has twice smashed the mark during his graduate season with a 29-point effort against Denver (Dec. 17) arriving after a 27-point performance at Arizona State (Nov. 20). Hyder, who matched a Cal Poly single game program record with eight three-pointers versus Denver after hitting seven at Arizona State, ranks 41st among NCAA Division I players with 3.0 three-pointers per game and 49th with 48 total threes. Eleventh among Big West performers with 14.1 points per game, Hyder has also scored 22 points at Omaha (Dec. 21) and 19 against both San Francisco (Nov. 5) and Menlo College (Nov. 10) among 11 double-digit performances. A starter in all 41 appearances as a Mustang dating to last season and second among Big West players at 33.6 minutes per game, Hyder – with a career best seven assists three times this year – is now sixth among conference players with 3.4 assists per game.
JESSUP EMERGES AS ONE OF NATION’S TOP THREE-POINT THREATS: Having reached double-digit scoring figures in all but five outings, senior guard Isaac Jessup enters Thursday’s contest with UC Davis ranked 41st among NCAA Division I players with 3.0 three-pointers per game, 75th with a 40.0 (42-for-105) percent three-point mark and 105th with 42 three-pointers. 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).
BANDELJ ON THE RISE: A career high 18-point effort against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 11) marked freshman Peter Bandelj’s eighth double-digit scoring game of the season with the Slovenian native now fifth in Cal Poly’s lineup at 9.3 points per game. Sixth among Big West players with an 83.6 (61-for-73) percent free throw mark, Bandelj leads Cal Poly in reserve scoring with 73.2 percent of 168 total points occurring in non-starting appearances.
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 51.5 (68-for-132) percent mark. One of two Mustangs to start all 18 games alongside Owen Koonce, Riniker also ranks second in the lineup with 4.9 rebounds per game and fourth with 9.6 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) among nine double-digit scoring outings.
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.
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 … Jarred Hyder’s eight three-pointers against Denver (Dec. 17) tied a single-game program record previously accomplished by three Mustangs and most recently by guard Dawin Whiten against UC Irvine (Feb. 10, 2007) … Cal Poly’s 95-94 overtime home win against Denver marked the program’s first all-time victory against the Pioneers.
THIS WEEK | Mustangs back to Mott Thursday, Jan. 16 to host UC Davis before visiting UC Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 18.
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) January 13, 2025
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