With the regular season coming down to its final stretch, Cal Poly Men’s Basketball will take on Big West co-leader UC San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. at Mott Athletics Center.
The Mustangs (10-16, 4-10 Big West) most recently took CSUN down to the wire before falling 89-85 at the end of the match.
The Tritons (22-4, 12-2 Big West) are on a tear, coming into Thursday’s game on a seven-game winning streak after defeating UC Davis on Saturday.
Late season push
With just six games remaining in the season, Cal Poly is in a tight race for the eighth seed in the Big West that would give them the final spot in the postseason tournament.
Though they began conference play with eight straight losses that kept them at the bottom of the Big West, a win against Long Beach that broke a 46-game conference losing streak re-energized the Mustangs.
Cal Poly has won four of their last six since then, putting together a late run for that tournament bid.
The Mustangs temporarily held the eighth seed after defeating Fullerton on Feb. 13, but after falling to CSUN, they are once again a game behind Bakersfield.
The Northridge loss was tough, as Cal Poly took the Matadors to the limit before a steal by graduate guard Owen Koonce gave them a chance to tie, but he couldn’t get the shot to go.
Despite not recording a three-pointer, Koonce led the team in points that game with 21. All of senior guard Isaac Jessup‘s made shots were three-pointers as he sank 6-of-11 attempts to contribute 18 points.
With every game from now on being important, the Mustangs will have to shake the loss off and look forward to their next opponents.
A look at UC San Diego
As winners of their last seven games and riding the momentum of a phenomenal season overall, the Tritons share the number one spot in the Big West with UC Irvine.
UC San Diego is led by their guard duo of Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and Tyler McGhie, who are both liable to pace the team in scoring on any night.
In the Mustangs’ first meeting with the Tritons on Jan. 9, Cal Poly led in the first half after hitting 10 three-pointers, but UC San Diego put together a 21-3 run late in the second half to win the game. Tait-Jones’ 25 points were a large factor in the Triton win.
Cal Poly and UC San Diego will tip off on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at Mott Athletics Center.