Cal State Bakersfield
Mustangs Hit the Road to Visit Cal State Bakersfield, UC Riverside
1/27/2026 9:43:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Playing three of its next four matchups away from Mott Athletics Center, the Cal Poly men’s basketball program visits Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, Jan. 29 (6:30 p.m.) and UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 31 (5 p.m.). Both matchups stream on ESPN+ for Cal Poly (7-14, 3-6), which looks to snap a three-game slide having drifted to ninth place in the Big West standings during the past two weeks. In Cal State Bakersfield (8-13, 2-7) and UC Riverside (7-14, 2-7), the Mustangs face the only two programs beneath them in the standings. Featuring two of the Big West’s top 10 scorers, Cal Poly enters the week 20th among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 10.8 three-pointers per game. Having dropped its last four, Cal State Bakersfield ranks second bottom among Big West programs at 72.5 points per game. UC Riverside, last at 71.5 points per game, has fallen in eight of its last nine.
CAL POLY VERSUS CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: The Mustangs swept last year’s season series from Cal state Bakersfield to snap a 12-game series slide and secure their only victories against the Roadrunners as a Big West opponent. Cal State Bakersfield, however, leads both the all-time (42-27) and Division I (16-4) series.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC RIVERSIDE: After Cal Poly swept last year’s season series, UC Riverside captured this year’s opening matchup in San Luis Obispo, 88-84 (Dec. 6). Cal Poly has dropped its last five visits to UC Riverside, last prevailing on the road against the highlanders on Jan. 31, 2019 (71-45). The third most frequent opponent in Cal Poly’s history, UC Riverside leads the all-time (61-53) series while the Mustangs lead the Division I (30-26) series.
LONG-RANGE GAME: Cal Poly has once more emerged as one of the nation’s top three-point shooting threats with the Mustangs ranked ninth among 361 NCAA Division I programs with 32.3 attempts per game, 16th with 226 total three-pointers and 20th with 10.8 three-pointers made per game. The Mustangs have knocked down multiple three-pointers in 13 of 21 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 50th nationally and second among Big West players with 58 total three-pointers. Fellow sophomore Peter Bandelj, meanwhile, co-leads the Big West and ranks 54th nationally with a 40.0 (42-for-105) percent three-point mark. Bandelj’s program record nine three-pointers at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4) rank as the fourth highest single-game total in Division I this season.
MOUSA’S MOMENT: A double-digit scorer in all 20 appearances, sophomore guard Hamad Mousa – who finished with 26 total points in 20 games at Dayton last season – leads the Big West and ranks 20th among NCAA Division I players at 20.7 points per game. He’s also 22nd nationally with 117 free throws and 50th with 58 total three-pointers. Mousa’s latest highlight 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 22.6 point-per-game average in nine Big West games is 3.2 points higher than the second place scorer. One of just two players from Qatar in Division I this season, Mousa also ranks seventh among Big West players with an 85.4 (117-for-137) percent free throw mark and eighth with 6.2 rebounds per game.
WARD’S SUPERIOR SOPHOMORE EFFORT: Cal Poly’s leading shooter at 45.0 (100-for-222) percent, sophomore guard Cayden Ward – behind 16 double-digit scoring efforts – enters Thursday’s matchup at Cal State Bakersfield second in the lineup and 10th among Big West players at 14.8 points and 5.8 rebounds 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 at Cal State Bakersfield third in the lineup at 13.9 points per game. Highlighted by a career high 37-point performance that included a program record nine three-pointers at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4), Bandelj is a double-digit scorer in all but five appearances. Eighth among Big West players with an 84.6 (66-for-78) percent free throw mark, Bandelj – through 55 collegiate appearances – is averaging 11.7 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.
