Cal Poly Men’s Basketball has two more games left to try and qualify for the Big West tournament appearance, just one year removed from an 0-20 season in conference.
The Mustangs (12-18, 6-12 Big West) are in ninth place in the Big West, currently sitting half a game back of CSU Bakersfield (13-18, 7-12 Big West) and a game back of Hawai’i (15-14, 7-11 Big West) in the conference standings.
The Big West tournament only takes the top eight teams, so Cal Poly must advance past at least one of those two teams to make the tournament.
What needs to happen for the Mustangs
Cal Poly plays the two teams below them in the Big West, hosting CSU Fullerton (6-24, 1-17 Big West) on Thursday, March 6. The final game of the regular season is an away game at Long Beach (7-23, 3-15 Big West) on Saturday, March 8.
The Mustangs need to win at least one of their two games this week to have a shot to make the Big West Tournament.
Hawai’i and Bakersfield play each other on Thursday in Bakersfield, a game with huge implications for all involved.
A Roadrunner loss means that their win total is frozen at seven as they do not play a game Saturday. Cal Poly holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over CSU Bakersfield with a sweep in the season series. In the scenario CSU Bakersfield loses to Hawai’i on Thursday, a Mustang win in either of the remaining games on the schedule means Cal Poly would make the tournament.
If Hawai’i loses to Bakersfield, they travel to third-place CSU Northridge (21-6, 13-5 Big West) to try and get to eight wins. A win against either the Roadrunners or Matadors secures Hawaii’s spot in the Big West Tournament.
In the event that all three teams end up at eight wins, the multi-team tiebreaker would shake out with Hawai’i receiving the seventh seed and Cal Poly getting the eighth seed.
If Hawaii loses both its games and Cal Poly splits its two games, then both teams will have seven wins. In that case, CSU Bakersfield would earn the seventh seed, and the tiebreaker for the final spot in the tournament would go to Hawaii.
The two teams have both beaten each other once this season, but Hawai’i holds a win over UC Davis, the current sixth seed (both Hawai’i and Cal Poly have the same record against the teams seeded one through five). Cal Poly dropped its two early conference matchups against the Aggies, therefore giving the eighth seed to the Rainbow Warriors.
With the race for the Big West tournament coming down to the wire, the next week of basketball should prove exciting.
Getting ready to host Fullerton on Thursday
Ahead of their match with Fullerton, the Mustangs come into the game with all the momentum after an important victory over Bakersfield on Saturday that kept their playoff hopes alive.
On the other hand, the Titans will head into Mott Athletics Center in the middle of a 10-game losing streak. Most recently, they were blown out by UC San Diego by a score of 100-55.
In the two teams’ first meeting this season on Feb. 13, the Mustangs defeated the Titans on the road 98-83 as five Mustangs finished in double figures to put Fullerton away.
Within that game, freshman guard Cayden Ward continued his rise as one of the key contributors on the team, leading Cal Poly with a collegiate-high 19 points. Ward and the Mustang offense exploded for 13 three-pointers, shooting almost 60% in the second half.
However, despite the final score, Fullerton put together multiple runs to make the game close before Cal Poly pulled away in the final minutes.
To capture victory again and continue the march towards a Big West postseason tournament bid, the Mustangs will need to shut down any hopes of a Titan upset.
Cal Poly and Fullerton will tip-off on Thursday, Mar. 6th at 7 p.m.
