Cal State Fullerton
Cal Poly Visits Cal State Fullerton, Hosts UC Riverside to Open Big West Play
12/2/2025 11:55:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Big West Championship semifinalists a year ago, Cal Poly opens its 30th year of Big West action with the two-game Bold Week, beginning Thursday, Dec. 4 at Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. Bold Week concludes Saturday, Dec. 6, as Cal Poly hosts UC Riverside at 4 p.m. Sinking 12 three-pointers during a Nov. 29 home victory against Redlands, Cal Poly (4-5) enters Thursday’s matchup at Cal State Fullerton ranked seventh among 361 among NCAA Division I programs with 95 total three-pointers. Cal State Fullerton (3-5), winners of two of its last three following an early four-game losing streak, leads the Big West at 88.1 points per game. UC Riverside (4-4), meanwhile, opens its Big West slate Thursday at UC Irvine.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following the two-game Bold Week, Cal Poly hosts Montana State (Dec. 16), visits UCLA (Dec. 19) and welcomes Idaho (Dec. 21) before resuming Big West play on New Year’s Day at home against defending conference champion UC San Diego.
CAL POLY VERSUS CAL STATE FULLERTON: The Mustangs swept the 2024-25 season series from Cal State Fullerton to improve to 41-39 all-time against the Titans. Cal State Fullerton, however, leads the Division I series, 31-26.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC RIVERSIDE: Cal Poly’s 112-100 overtime home victory against UC Riverside in February snapped an 11-game series slide before the Mustangs eliminated the Highlanders from the Big West Championship with a 96-83 quarterfinal victory. The third most frequent opponent in Cal Poly’s history, UC Riverside leads the all-time (60-53) series while the Mustangs lead the Division I (30-25) series.
LONG-RANGE GAME: Cal Poly has once more emerged as one of the nation’s top three-point shooting sides with the Mustangs ranked seventh among 361 among NCAA Division I programs with 95 total three-pointers, 30th with 30.0 attempts per game and 38th with 10.6 made per game. Individually, sophomore guard Hamad Mousa ranks third among Big West shooters with 22 three-pointers and sixth with a 44.9 percent mark.
MOUSA’S MOMENT: A double-digit scorer in all eight appearances, sophomore guard Hamad Mousa – who finished with 26 total points in 20 games at Dayton last season – ranks second among Big West players at 18.4 points per game. Scoring a collegiate best 26 points at Utah (Nov. 20) after a 23-point performance versus Pacific Lutheran (Nov. 5), Mousa – one of just two players from Qatar in Division I this season – also ranks second in the lineup with 5.4 rebounds per game.
BANDELJ UPS THE SCORING PACE: Cal Poly’s leading returning scorer from last season, sophomore guard Peter Bandelj enters Thursday’s game at Cal State Fullerton second in the lineup with 15.5 points per game following a season best 21-point efforts at Montana (Nov. 14) and versus Redlands (Nov. 29). A double-digit scorer in all but one appearance, Bandelj also ranks ninth in the Big West with a team leading 83.8 (31-for-37) percent free throw mark. Through 43 collegiate appearances, Bandelj is averaging 11.4 points per game.
WARD’S SUPERIOR SOPHOMORE EFFORT: Cal Poly’s top shooter and ranked ninth among Big West players with a 52.2 (48-for-92) percent field goal mark, sophomore guard Cayden Ward – behind seven double-digit scoring efforts – enters Thursday’s matchup at Cal State Fullerton third in the lineup and at 14.9 points per game. Ward’s career high 28-point effort at Utah (Nov. 20) marked the highest scoring game by a Mustang this season and earned Big West Player of the Week praise. Activated from a potential redshirt season last winter a month into the campaign, Ward – who averaged 7.4 points per game as a freshman – also scored 26 points 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).
