Still in search of a Big West postseason tournament bid with five games left in the regular season, Cal Poly Men’s Basketball will take on UC Riverside on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. at Mott Athletics Center.
The Mustangs (10-17, 4-11 Big West) fell to Big West leader UC San Diego 81-67 on Thursday, dealing a significant blow to their tournament hopes.
The Highlanders (18-10, 11-5 Big West) enjoyed a blowout victory 87-66 over Long Beach State before their trip to San Luis Obispo.
Must-win stretch for the Mustangs
After their loss to UC San Diego on Thursday and a CSU Bakersfield victory over UC Davis, the Mustangs fell even further behind the Roadrunners for the eighth and final slot in the Big West postseason tournament.
The Tritons’ offense proved to be too much for the Mustangs, playing a near-flawless game with only five turnovers compared to Cal Poly’s 17.
Though their defense couldn’t keep up, the Mustangs received encouraging offensive performances from freshman guard Cayden Ward and senior guard Isaac Jessup.
Ward led the team with 17 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Jessup added 15 points of his own as the two guards accounted for eight of the Mustangs’ 13 three-pointers in the game.
Offensive performances like this will be necessary for Cal Poly’s final push for a postseason berth.
With a one-and-a-half game deficit in the standings to makeup, every game is a crucial one for Cal Poly as the regular season comes to a close.
A look at Riverside
In the Mustangs’ first meeting with the Highlanders on Saturday, Feb. 1st, Riverside took advantage of Cal Poly’s interior defense, crashing the boards for 20 offensive rebounds that led to 27 second-chance points.
Former Mustang Joel Armotrading tied for the game-lead in boards with eight and added 10 points. He is one of multiple Riverside players listed at 6 feet 10 inches, all of who gave the outsized Cal Poly trouble in their match.
Cal Poly also didn’t have its best offensive game, shooting 34% as the Highlanders held them to just 62 points.
The Mustangs will need to navigate around Riverside’s size in order to produce a different result this time around.
Cal Poly will get their second shot at Riverside on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. at Mott Athletics Center.