Henderson, Nev. – As Mike DeGeorge sat at the postgame press conference and made his opening statement, it was clear Cal Poly’s win over UC Riverside in the Big West Championships quarterfinals wasn’t surprising to him.
“We’re just coming in, and if we play the way we’re capable of, we can get anybody in this tournament,” DeGeorge said.
The 96-83 win marked the first time the program will advance to the tournament semifinals since the 2013-14 season. The same year the team qualified for the NCAA March Madness Tournament.
Yet DeGeorge made his comments as if it was business as usual.
“It was a great team effort against a really talented Riverside team that’s had a great year,” DeGeorge said.
However, when looking at DeGeorge’s resume, it makes sense.
Prior to coaching at Cal Poly, DeGeorge was the head coach of Division II Colorado Mesa for six seasons from 2018 through the 2024 season. During that stretch, the team boasted a 141-43 record, qualified for the Division II NCAA Tournament five times and advanced as far as the Sweet 16 twice.
DeGeorge has had plenty of experience leading teams through deep playoff runs, and it shows in their play with their veterans who played under DeGeorge at Colorado Mesa.
The team played with such a high pace that UC Riverside struggled to keep up with. The Mustangs lead the entire way and never trailed.
DeGeorge noted how setting the pace of offense throughout games is very crucial for winning games.
“We want it to be like it was tonight,” DeGeorge said. “We’ve been working all year at it and we just want to get 40 more minutes of high tempo game played at our pace.”
Graduate guards Mac Riniker and Owen Koonce played under DeGeorge at Colorado Mesa and looked to build off of their contributions in their win over UC Davis.
Despite that, they both got into foul trouble and were forced to sit during a crucial stretch midway through the second half.
Two players who stepped up in their absence were freshmen guards Peter Bandelj and Cayden Ward.
Bandelj finished with 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting from three while Ward recorded his first career double-double with 14 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Coming into the game, Bandelj was only shooting 26% from three, while Ward was only shooting 31%, making their three-point runs all the more impressive.
DeGeorge praised the two freshmen for coming up big when the Highlanders began threatening to take the lead.
“Early in the year, depth was kind of our issue,” DeGeorge said. “It’s been great to see their development.”
Ward’s three made three-pointers came on three consecutive possessions to keep UC Riverside from retaking the lead with about five minutes left in regulation.
Along with the freshmen, Koonce and graduate point guard Jarred Hyder continued to lead the team in scoring with 20 and 18 points respectively.
Hyder emphasized postgame how the entire team is familiar with these high-pressure games and has the advantage in that area.
“Now it’s time for us to put that pressure on these teams that have been comfortable sitting towards the top of the conference,” Hyder said.
They’ll look to do that tonight when they take on No. 2 seeded UC Irvine in the Big West Championships semifinals at 8:30 p.m. at Lee’s Family Forum.
