UCLA (RV)
Mustangs Complete 2025 at UCLA Friday, Host Idaho Sunday
12/18/2025 2:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men’s basketball program closes the 2025 calendar year – and completes preparations for January’s resumption of Big West play – when visiting UCLA on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. before hosting Idaho on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. Following a 10-day break for finals – and the program’s initial two Big West matchups on Dec. 4 and 6 – Cal Poly (5-7) dropped an 83-80 Tuesday home decision to Montana State. The Mustangs enter Friday’s matchup on Big Ten Network 11th among NCAA Division I programs with 130 three-pointers. UCLA (8-3), ranked No. 25 in last week’s AP Top 25 poll, received 16 votes this week – 66 points behind current No. 25 Georgia. The Bruins most recently defeated Arizona State at home Wednesday, 90-77. Idaho (7-4), meanwhile, faces Cal Poly following an idle seven-day stretch and having won three of its previous four games.
CAL POLY VERSUS UCLA: The Mustangs make their eighth all-time visit to Westwood and first since being edged by the Bruins, 88-83, on Nov. 15, 2015. One of the most notable victories in program history – and Cal Poly’s only win against a ranked opponent at the Division I level – occurred inside Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 25, 2012 when the Mustangs overturned an 18-point deficit with 12 minutes remaining to defeat then 11th-ranked UCLA, 70-68. Dating to the first meeting between the two sides on Jan. 28, 1949, UCLA leads the all-time series, 6-1.
CAL POLY VERSUS IDAHO: The Vandals snapped a two-game series slide with an 85-70 home win against Cal Poly on Dec. 2, 2023. Big West opponents between the 1995-96 and 2004-05 seasons, Idaho leads the all-time series, 13-9, since the first matchup on Dec. 14, 1954.
LOOKING AHEAD: After an 11-day holiday break, Cal Poly plays its first New Year’s Day game since 1966 and resumes Big West action when welcoming defending conference champion UC San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. The resumption of Big West play continues Saturday, Jan. 3 at Long Beach State.
LONG-RANGE GAME: Cal Poly has once more emerged as one of the nation’s top three-point shooting sides with the Mustangs ranked 11th among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 130 total three-pointers, 22nd with 30.3 attempts per game and 28th with 10.8 three-pointers made per game. The Mustangs have knocked down multiple three-pointers in seven of 12 matchups, topping out with 18 during a 94-91 victory at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). Individually, guard Peter Bandelj ranks 22nd among NCAA Division I players with a 46.6 (27-for-58) percent three-point mark after sinking a program record nine three-pointers at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). Fellow sophomore Hamad Mousa is 41st nationally with a 43.7 (31-for-71) percent mark.
We're back! After a 10-day break for finals, Cal Poly closes 2025 ...
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) December 15, 2025
1?2? / 1?6? ?? Montana State (7 p.m.)
1?2? / 1?9? @ UCLA (7 p.m.)
1?2? / 2?1? ?? Idaho (4 p.m.)#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/vsMapnJTnc
MOUSA’S MOMENT: A double-digit scorer in all 11 appearances, sophomore guard Hamad Mousa (above) – who finished with 26 total points in 20 games at Dayton last season – leads the Big West at 20.1 points per game. Now 41st among NCAA Division I players with a 43.7 (31-for-71) percent three-point mark and ninth in the Big West with an 83.1 (64-for-77) 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 ranks second in the lineup with 5.5 rebounds per game.
BANDELJ UPS THE SCORING PACE: Cal Poly’s leading returning scorer from last season, sophomore guard Peter Bandelj enters Friday’s game at UCLA second in the lineup and sixth among Big West players at 17.1 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 22nd among NCAA Division I players with a 46.6 (27-for-58) percent three-point mark after sinking a program record nine at Cal State Fullerton. Also fourth among Big West players with an 88.7 (47-for-53) percent free throw mark, Bandelj – through 46 collegiate appearances – is averaging 12.0 career points per game.
WARD’S SUPERIOR SOPHOMORE EFFORT: Cal Poly’s second leading shooter with a 48.8 (63-for-129) percent field goal mark, sophomore guard Cayden Ward – behind 10 double-digit scoring efforts – enters Tuesday’s matchup at UCLA third in the lineup and ninth among Big West players at 15.2 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 25-point night against Montana State (Dec. 16).
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).
