Cal Poly Men’s Basketball continues searching for their first conference victory in over two years after they fell to UC Davis 65-54 on Thursday at Mott Athletics Center.
The loss marks the 45th straight regular-season Big West Conference loss for Cal Poly, a streak that dates back to December 2022.
The last time the Mustangs (6-13, 0-7 Big West) took on the Aggies (10-8, 4-3 Big West), they were without graduate guard Jarred Hyder and senior guard Isaac Jessup, the team’s second and third leading scorers respectively.
The result was a muddled game in which Cal Poly committed 33 turnovers and ultimately fell 77-66.
In this game, the Mustangs had their scoring threats back but ultimately found more success on the defensive side rather than offensively.
“We got a certain flow in our offense, and we gotta figure out ways in these conference games to get in that flow, because that’s really been a huge struggle for us,” Jessup said.
Cal Poly held the Aggies under their scoring average of 70 points a game and forced numerous shot-clock violations due to their hounding of the ball at the point of attack. Davis was held to a 33% field goal percentage in the first half.
However, the offensive output wasn’t able to match.
In the first half, Cal Poly shot 50% from three but wasn’t as efficient from the rest of the field.
The Mustangs had trouble penetrating the Aggies’ defense and found fewer opportunities to drive and kick the ball.
“I feel like when we got into the paint, good things happened,” graduate guard Mac Riniker said. “There were times where they were playing the gaps, just swiping at the ball, so we didn’t have the most confidence in dribbling through those gaps, which would’ve led to more turnovers.”
Cal Poly entered the halftime break down 31-26 despite the defense they played.
The Aggies extended their lead early in the half, but with three straight three-pointers from Jessup and two more from Riniker and freshman guard Cayden Ward, the Mustangs closed the gap to 46-42.
However, the same issues from the first half began once again.
Despite shooting the ball well, Cal Poly couldn’t find opportunities for good looks from beyond the arc and failed to find their rhythm in the second half.
Cal Poly was held scoreless for the next five minutes and fell short for the sixth straight game.
“The message in the locker room was, we gotta meet the moment where it is, that we have to be honest about what are the struggles, what we need to do moving forward to try to get through some of that,” head coach Mike DeGeorge said.
Riniker, usually Cal Poly’s primary defender, led the team with 18 points, his career-best as a Mustang. Jessup finished with 12 points.
Cal Poly will have its next shot at breaking its Big West losing streak on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m., when it travels to UC Irvine for its second matchup this season.