Looking for their first three-game win streak since early November, Cal Poly traveled south to take on the UC Riverside Highlanders (15-8, 8-3 Big West), who rank No. 3 in the Big West Conference standings.
The Mustangs (8-15, 2-9 Big West) have won two straight Big West contests after losing their first eight on the season, but the Highlanders, currently on a five-game win streak, would prove to be a tough matchup.
UC Riverside imposed their tough defense, limiting Cal Poly to only 62 points in a convincing 80-62 victory.
The Mustangs’ lack of offensive output was a major reason the game seemed out of reach. 62 points is the third-lowest scoring game all season.
For the majority of the season, Cal Poly has been pacing the Big West in points per game with their high-powered, free-flowing offense, averaging 78.9 ppg.
They only shot 34% from the field, and 16 of their 62 points came from the free-throw line.
Cal Poly would never hold a lead in this game.
The first half didn’t go the Mustangs’ way, as they found themselves down 15-5 after seven minutes of game action.
UC Riverside held a 39-28 lead at half-time, with the Mustangs still in striking distance if they could put together one of their patented explosive runs.
The runs would come, but just were not enough.
Freshman Peter Bandelj gave the Mustangs an early spark in the second half of action and led the team in points with 12 on the night.
Bandelj had seven straight points and capped off an 8-0 run to cut the UC Riverside lead to just three points.
That is the closest Cal Poly would be to the rest of the game.
The Highlanders exposed the Mustang’s size and attacked the paint on glass all game leading to easy buckets eventually putting the game away.
UC Riverside would win the rebound battle with a dominant 47 rebounds to Cal Poly’s 32.
20 of those 47 rebounds were offensive, leading to a game-changing 27 Highlander second-chance points.
Comparatively, the Mustangs recorded five second-chance points.
Joel Armotrading, a former Mustang from the 2023-24 season, transferred to UC Riverside this season.
The 6-foot-10-inch big man scored 10 points and recorded eight rebounds against his previous school.
Cal Poly’s leading scorer on the season, graduate forward Owen Koonce, would foul out of this game, only playing 25 minutes and scoring four points.
A bright spot for the Mustangs was senior sharpshooter Issac Jessup.
Recognized as one of the nation’s best shooters, Jessup’s shooting touch has been a bit off, barring some injuries. However, his shot seems to be back as he hit 50% of his three-pointers on the night.
With nine games left in the regular season, Cal Poly will look to get back on track with a matchup on Thursday, Feb. 6, hosting the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (13-9, 5-6 Big West) at Mott Athletics Center.
