12-16,8-8Big West
Hawai'i
18-7,10-5Big West
Cal Poly Takes Down Hawai'i for 3rd Straight Victory
2/19/2026 11:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HONOLULU, Hawai’i — Hamad Mousa poured in 24 points and Cayden Ward added 19 as Cal Poly men’s basketball picked up its third straight victory over a top-three opponent in the Big West standings on Thursday night, toppling Hawai’i 86-75.
The Mustangs (12-16, 8-8 Big West) never trailed in the contest against the Rainbow Warriors (18-7, 10-5 BW), who entered Thursday’s matchup tied for first place in the conference.
Cal Poly took it to Hawai’i early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead and then a 15-2 advantage less than four minutes into the game when Mousa pulled up from the top and buried a three-pointer to force a timeout by the Rainbow Warriors. The Mustangs knocked down six of their first eight field goal attempts to open the game, including a pair of three-pointers from freshman Austin Goode.
The Mustangs stretched their lead to 15 points less than 7 minutes into the game before Hawai’i slowly started digging into Cal Poly’s deficit, cutting it to 1-point twice in the first half.
Sparked by a Troy Plumtree dunk on the fastbreak, Cal Poly closed the first half on a 10-3 run, allowing them to take a 44-35 lead into the break. With 4.7 seconds left in the first half, Ward inbounded the ball to Mousa who passed it right back to Ward who was flying up the court. The Stockton, Calif. native then drove the ball all the way past half court and converted a driving layup off the glass as the first-half buzzer sounded. The play was the exclamation point on a stellar first half for the Mustangs.
The Rainbow Warriors started the second half strong and knotted the game up 52-52 with 13:27 left. But less than 1:30 later, Ward buried a 3-pointer to help Cal Poly regain the lead and the Mustangs never looked back. That long-range bucket sparked a 9-0 run by the Mustangs.
Hawai’i tried to stay in it, but a Jake Davis three-pointer with 4:37 left followed by an and-one by Mousa less than a minute later helped the Mustangs take a double-digit lead.
Cal Poly knocked down its free throws down the stretch to seal its third straight win. Mousa, the Big West leading scorer, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go along with his 24 points, and was 12-of-13 from the free throw line. Ward had an efficient night, going 8-of-12 from the field and grabbing six rebounds. Peter Bandelj scored 12 points and Plumtree added 10.
Cal Poly Noteworthy (versus Hawai’i)
- Up Next: The Mustangs will enjoy a bye this Saturday before returning home next Thursday, Feb. 26, to host Long Beach State (8-19, 4-11) at 7 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center
- Thanks to Thursday’s win, eighth-place Cal Poly now sits three-and-a-half games clear of ninth-place Long Beach State with four games left in conference play and the top eight programs qualifying for the Big West tournament on March 11-14.
- Over the last week, the Mustangs have defeated three of the top teams in the Big West, topping first-place UC Irvine 79-73 last Thursday, UC Santa Barbara 89-79 this past Saturday and now Hawai’i, who sits in a tie for second-place in the Big West following Thursday’s loss.
- Thursday’s victory snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Mustangs in Hawai’i and was Cal Poly’s first win in Honolulu since earning a 61-57 overtime victory on Jan. 7, 2015.
- Mousa’s 24 points on Thursday brought his season total to 545 – the eighth highest single season total in program history.
