Montana State
Mustangs Host Montana State Tuesday at 7 p.m.
12/15/2025 11:55:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Following a 10-day break for finals, the Cal Poly men’s basketball program resumes action when hosting Montana State on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Tip time from Mott Athletics Center is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (5-6), which enters Tuesday’s matchup ranked 22nd among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 122 total three-pointers and 23rd with 11.1 three-pointers made per game. Following Tuesday’s game, Cal Poly closes the 2025 calendar year at UCLA (Dec. 19) before welcoming Idaho (Dec. 21). Montana State (4-7), meanwhile, looks to snap a two-game slide following road setbacks at Oral Roberts (Dec. 6) and Oregon State (Dec. 13).
CAL POLY VERSUS MONTANA STATE: The Mustangs face Montana State for the first time since falling in Bozeman on Nov. 21, 2010, 73-57. The Bobcats also prevailed in Mott Athletics Center on Dec. 21, 2009, 76-72.
LONG-RANGE GAME: Cal Poly has once more emerged as one of the nation’s top three-point shooting sides with the Mustangs ranked 22nd among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 122 total three-pointers and 30.5 attempts per game and 23rd with 11.1 three-pointers made per game. The Mustangs have knocked down multiple three-pointers in seven of 11 matchups, topping out with 18 during a 94-91 victory at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). Individually, guard Peter Bandelj ranks 13th among NCAA Division I players with a 50.0 (26-for-52) percent three-point mark after sinking a program record nine three-pointers at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). Fellow sophomore Hamad Mousa is 31st nationally with a 45.5 (30-for-66) percent mark.
MOUSA’S MOMENT: A double-digit scorer in all 10 appearances, sophomore guard Hamad Mousa – who finished with 26 total points in 20 games at Dayton last season – leads the Big West at 20.5 points per game. Now 31st among NCAA Division I players with a 45.5 (30-for-66) percent three-point mark and eighth in the Big West with an 83.8 (57-for-68) percent free throw mark, Mousa scored a career high 31 points against UC Riverside (Dec. 6) after producing 27 during victory at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4) and 23 in Cal Poly’s win at Utah (Nov. 20). Mousa – one of just two players from Qatar in Division I this season – also leads Cal Poly with 5.9 rebounds per game.
BANDELJ UPS THE SCORING PACE: Cal Poly’s leading returning scorer from last season, sophomore guard Peter Bandelj enters Tuesday’s game with Montana State second in the lineup and fifth among Big West players at 17.4 points per game following a career high 37-point effort at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). A double-digit scorer in all but one appearance (and the one was a nine-point night versus SEMO on Nov. 25), Bandelj ranks 13th among NCAA Division I players with a 50.0 (26-for-52) percent three-point mark after sinking a program record nine at Cal State Fullerton. Also fourth among Big West players with an 87.5 (42-for-48) percent free throw mark, Bandelj – through 45 collegiate appearances – is averaging 12.0 career points per game.
WARD’S SUPERIOR SOPHOMORE EFFORT: Cal Poly’s second leading shooter with a 48.2 (55-for-114) percent field goal mark, sophomore guard Cayden Ward – behind nine double-digit scoring efforts – enters Tuesday’s matchup with Montana State third in the lineup at 14.3 points per game. Earning Big West Player of the Week praise following a career high 28-point effort at Utah (Nov. 20), Ward – who averaged 7.4 points per game as a freshman – also owns a 26-point night against Pacific Lutheran (Nov. 5).
UNITED NATIONS: Cal Poly’s 2025-26 roster features players from nine different countries – a figure eclipsed by only UT Martin (13). Cal Poly, however, is the only Division I program this year with a roster that canvasses all six habitable continents/regions.
CLOSED PORTAL DOORS: Alongside Duke, Tennessee, American and Boston University, Cal Poly was just one of just five Division I programs not to lose a player to the transfer portal during the offseason.
SANDERS DEBUT MAKES NBA MUSTANGS TWO: Cal Poly saw a second Mustang alum make his NBA debut on Oct. 22 when guard Kobe Sanders (2020-24) – drafted 50th overall by the New York Knicks in June before being traded to the Clippers – appeared for Los Angeles. Cal Poly’s first and only NBA Draft selection since 1978, Sanders joined guard David Nwaba (2013-16) – who appeared for the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago, Cleveland, Brooklyn and Houston between 2017 and 2022 – as the only former Mustangs to play in the NBA.
ETC.: The Mustangs are in their 32nd Division I season and 82nd as a four-year program … Cal Poly’s Nov. 3 season opener at USC marked the earliest start date in program history … Cal Poly’s 92-85 victory at Utah (Nov. 20) marked the program’s first and only win against a current Big 12 program since defeating Arizona State on Dec. 2, 1949 … Cal Poly’s Nov. 25 matchup with Southeast Missouri marked the first all-time matchup between the two programs … the Mustangs improved to 51-1 against non-Division I opposition with an 87-81 home victory against Division III Redlands on Nov. 29 (Cal Poly transitioned to the Division I level prior to the 1994-95 season) … Peter Bandelj’s nine three-pointers at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4) set a new program record, surpassing the previous mark of eight by four different Mustangs and last accomplished by graduate guard Jarred Hyder (Dec. 17, 2024).
