Just one month ago, on Jan. 4, Cal Poly Men’s Basketball left Stan Sheriff Center with somber faces, coming off their lowest-scoring game of the season with only 55 points against Hawai’i.
After an encouraging start to the year in non-conference play, during which they stayed competitive with power four teams and even defeated Stanford, the pressure was starting to mount. The Mustangs lost their third game of what would turn out to be a seven-game losing skid.
With the elephant in the room that was a historic losing streak and the expectations from their non-conference performance, Cal Poly fell into a skid that kept them at the bottom of the conference standings.
However, the Mustangs would prove to be resilient as they captured their first conference win since the 2022-23 season against Long Beach State on Jan. 25. Then followed it up with another victory against Cal State Bakersfield.
Claiming a 79-63 redemption victory against Hawai’i on Thursday at Mott Athletics Center, Cal Poly marked the third win of its last four games and seems to be hitting its stride.
“We knew it was pressure off our shoulders once we got to that first [win,] and then now it’s just feeling more free on that court,” graduate guard Jarred Hyder said, who scored 18 points in the win.
The Mustangs (9-15, 3-9 Big West) got out to a fast start with their notorious high-tempo offense, hitting four threes in the game’s opening minutes.
However, the Rainbow Warriors (13-10, 5-7 Big West) would fight back to gain a one-point lead in the half. Size and physicality have been recurring problems for Cal Poly, and Hawai’i was not lacking either.
Graduate guards Owen Koonce and Mac Riniker got into foul trouble early, forcing them to sit and play fewer minutes, but they matched the physicality of the Rainbow Warriors.
“It was the kind of game plan that has been difficult for us, just a team that’s big and physical,” head coach Mike DeGeorge said. “And so I think they’ve done a great job, and we were able to maintain our pace.”
The Mustangs came out of the break re-energized, holding Hawai’i to a 37% shooting clip in the second half.
The game was broken open when the teams came out of a timeout, and Koonce, who had been quiet so far with only two first-half points, scored seven straight to extend Cal Poly’s lead.
“I just feel like the court was opening up a little bit more,” Koonce said. “I was being stronger at the ball, wasn’t passing up opportunities to score, just trying to make things happen.
Koonce finished with a team-leading 20 points, mounting an 18-point second half that helped the Mustangs to a lead they would never relinquish.
With the win and a Bakersfield loss, Cal Poly now sits one game behind Bakersfield for the eighth seed and final spot in the Big West Conference tournament. For a Mustang team gaining momentum at the right time, the hopes of making a run are high.
“One of the goals is to get in there and get a shot,” DeGeorge said. “I think that’d be a big step forward for the program, and so we’re definitely all focused on that.”
The Mustangs will get the weekend off before resuming the hunt for a tournament bid as they travel to Titan Gym to face Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m.