Hawai'i
Offense Meets Defense as Cal Poly Hosts Hawai’i Thursday at 7 p.m.
1/13/2026 11:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Just one-and-a-half games separate the Cal Poly men’s basketball program from second-place Hawai’i in the Big West standings as the Mustangs host the Rainbow Warriors on Thursday, Jan. 14. Tip time from Mott Athletics Center is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (7-11, 3-3), which moved into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big West standings alongside CSUN and Cal State Fullerton with an 84-78 home win against UC Davis (Jan. 10). Hawai’i (12-3, 4-1), meanwhile, stayed in second after handing Big West leader UC Irvine (12-6, 5-1) its first conference setback with a 67-66, buzzer-beating win (Jan. 10). Featuring three of the Big West’s top nine scorers, Cal Poly enters Thursday’s game second among Big West programs at 81.4 points per game and fourth among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 198 total three-pointers. Hawai’i, meanwhile, concedes just 63.4 points per game – the 10th lowest figure in Division I.
CAL POLY VERSUS HAWAI’I: The Mustangs snapped a nine-game series slide against Hawai’i with a 79-63 home victory last February and Cal Poly seeks back-to-back wins versus the Rainbow Wahine for the first time since taking five straight between the 2009-10 and 2012-13 seasons. Hawai’i, however, leads the all-time series, 20-9.
LONG-RANGE GAME: Cal Poly has once more emerged as one of the nation’s top three-point shooting threats with the Mustangs ranked fourth among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 198 total three-pointers, 12th with 31.1 attempts per game and 15th with 11.0 three-pointers made per game. The Mustangs have knocked down multiple three-pointers in 12 of 18 matchups, topping out with 18 – three shy of the program single game record – during a 94-91 victory at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). Individually, guard Hamad Mousa ranks 27th nationally with 53 total three-pointers and 58th with a 40.8 (53-for-130) percent mark. Fellow sophomore Peter Bandelj, meanwhile, is third among Big West players and 41st nationally with a 41.9 (39-for-93) percent figure.
MOUSA’S MOMENT: A double-digit scorer in all 17 appearances, sophomore guard Hamad Mousa – who finished with 26 total points in 20 games at Dayton last season – leads the Big West and now ranks 10th among NCAA Division I players at 21.8 points per game. He’s also 27th nationally with 53 total three-pointers and 58th with a 40.8 (53-for-130) percent mark. Mousa’s latest scoring endeavor was a career best 34-point performance at CSUN (Jan. 8) while also recording 33 against Idaho (Dec. 21) and 31 versus UC Riverside (Dec. 6). Mousa’s 26.8 point-per-game average in six Big West games is 6.2 points higher than the second place scorer. One of just two players from Qatar in Division I this season, Mousa also ranks fifth among Big West players with an 85.7 (108-for-126) percent free throw mark and sixth with 6.5 rebounds per game.
WARD’S SUPERIOR SOPHOMORE EFFORT: Cal Poly’s co-leading shooter at 45.3 (86-for-190) percent, sophomore guard Cayden Ward – behind 14 double-digit scoring efforts – enters Thursday’s matchup with Hawai’i second in the lineup and seventh among Big West players at 15.3 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 25-point night against Montana State (Dec. 16).
BANDELJ UPS THE SCORING PACE: Cal Poly’s leading returning scorer from last season, sophomore guard Peter Bandelj enters Thursday’s game with Hawai’i third in the lineup and ninth among Big West players at 15.0 points per game following a career high 37-point effort at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4). A double-digit scorer in all but three appearances, Bandelj ranks third among Big West players and 41st nationally with a 41.9 (39-for-93) percent three-point mark after sinking a program record nine at Cal State Fullerton. Also seventh among Big West players with an 84.9 (62-for-73) percent free throw mark, Bandelj – through 52 collegiate appearances – is averaging 11.9 career points per game.
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) … Cal Poly’s 95.5 (21-for-22) percent free throw performance at UCLA (21-for-22) marked the third highest single game figure in program history and the highest total with one miss.
