After almost a decade of being a non-factor in the Big West conference, the program hired Mike DeGeorge, a coach with experience rebuilding programs.
There were many questions about how season one of the DeGeorge era would go, how fast could a program that was coming off a 20-game losing streak be turned around?
After the sluggish start to their conference season, Cal Poly picked up the pace and for the first time in a few seasons played meaningful regular season basketball in the month of March.
With CSU Bakersfield’s win against Hawai’i and their win on Thursday, the path to the Big West tournament was simple for Cal Poly. Win against Long Beach State, and you’re in.
The team did exactly that, as they took down the Beach, 83-69, on Saturday, March 8 at the Walter Pyramid to punch their ticket to their first Big West Championships appearance since the 2022-23 season.
If there were nerves, they didn’t show. The Mustangs (14-18, 8-12 Big West) went 4-for-5 from three to start the game, staking Cal Poly to an early lead.
Most of those questions were quickly squashed in the first game, scaring a San Francisco team that finished third in the West Coast Conference.
The team broke through in late November, defeating their first ACC program in decades by knocking off Stanford on the road.
The only question left was, could the team get the 38 conference losing streak off of their back.
They finally broke through against Long Beach State, snapping the streak at 46 losses in Big West play.
The Beach (7-25, 3-17 Big West) refused to be denied on their senior night, especially senior Devin Askew. For every punch the Mustangs threw, Askew threw one back. He finished the first half with 21 of the team’s 41 points.
Cal Poly ended the first half up 47-41 at half with 17 points from graduate guard Jarred Hyder and 13 points from senior Isaac Jessup. The team was 11-for-22 from behind the arc in the first half.
If anyone was going to carry Long Beach State back into the game, it would be Devin Askew.
However, Askew left early in the second half with an injury, as the lead ballooned up to as much as 20 for the Mustangs.
Eventually the pace slowed down as the Mustangs moved to protect their lead. When Jessup hit a three to stop a Beach run with 3 minutes remaining, it was all but officially over.
Hyder finished with 25 points, with graduate swingman Owen Koonce putting up his 13th 20 point game.
As a team they shot 47.4% from behind the arc, their highest total this season.
Cal Poly also had one of their better games on the turnover margin, turning the ball over just 12 times and collecting 10 steals.
With Hawaii’s loss to CSU Northridge, the Mustangs are the seventh seed in the Big West tournament.
That earns them a date with UC Davis in the opening round, Wednesday, March 12 at 8:30 p.m. at Lee’s family forum in Henderson, Nev.
