After a week of second-half comebacks at home, Cal Poly Men’s Basketball outshined University of Hawai’i by delivering a wire-to-wire victory against the then-Big West standings leaders.
The Mustangs (12-16, 8-8 Big West) made the cross-Pacific trip to face the Rainbow Warriors (18-7, 10-5 Big West), where they extended their winning streak to three as they took down the University of Hawai’i 86-75.
After losing to Hawai’i by 20 points earlier in the conference play, Cal Poly carried their newfound momentum to the Mãnoa valley in Honolulu where they secured their first away win since they played UC Riverside on Jan. 29.
It was also the first time the Mustangs had won a game on the road in Honolulu since Jan. 7, 2015, snapping an 11-game losing streak in Hawai’i.
Cal Poly went into halftime with a nine-point lead, their largest in three weeks. Maintaining leads had proven to be difficult earlier in the season, but the Mustangs showed no signs of weakness as they outscored Hawai’i 42-40 in the second half.
Sophomore guard Hamad Mousa led the team across the board with 24 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guards Cayden Ward and Peter Bandelj trailed Mousa with 19 and 12 points apiece.
Another Mustang to hit double digits was freshman forward Troy Plumtree. Plumtree, who only played two minutes during the first matchup against Hawai’i this season, came off the bench to score 10 points, going four-for-five from the field and making both free throws in his 16 minutes of play.
The New Zealand native also contributed defensively as he was credited for three of Cal Poly’s nine steals on the night. Junior guard Jake Davis also had three steals, Ward had two, and sophomore guard Guzman Vasilic got one.
Vasilic and freshman forward Austin Goode both had one block to shut down the Rainbow Warriors offense. Goode also had eight points and four rebounds as his minutes continued to increase in the latter half of the season.
Defensively, the Mustangs outperformed the University of Hawai’i attack as the Rainbow Warriors only shot 13% from the three-point line, and just 38.3% for field goals. The Rainbow Warriors also only got four points off of turnovers compared to Cal Poly’s 22.
With the win against the University of Hawai’i, Cal Poly now sits comfortably in eighth place in the standings, which is the final qualifying position to compete in the Big West tournament. If the Mustangs can continue their winning streak, there is a chance for them to jump up to as high as fifth place in the conference, giving them better seeding in the tournament.
After defeating one of the top teams in the Big West, Cal Poly will fly back to San Luis Obispo to rest for a week before they take on Long Beach State at home in Mott Athletic Center on Feb. 26.