Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
On Monday, the (7-10 SU, 9-6 ATS) Cal Poly SLO Mustangs will face the (12-6 SU, 11-6 ATS) UC Riverside Highlanders at SRC Arena. The Mustangs, 1-7 on the road, have lost four straight games. The Highlanders, 4-2 at home, beat UC Santa Barbara in their last game.
UC Riverside beat Cal Poly in both meetings last season. The Mustangs, though, lead the all-time series 26-20.
Tip-off from Riverside, CA, is at 5:00 p.m. PT. The Highlanders are 7.5-point spread favorites, and the game total is 129 points.
Cal Poly, 1-4 in the Big West, has lost seven of its past nine. The Mustangs, picked to finish ninth in the conference's preseason poll, are fading at the wrong time of the season.
In their latest loss at Long Beach State, the Mustangs trailed by 15 at halftime and never recovered. Cal Poly shot 19-for-55 (34.5%) from the field and 5-for-13 (38.5%) from distance. It was outrebounded 37-33 and committed 19 turnovers, as well. The Beach, who entered the contest at 1-4 in conference play, led by as many as 27 points.
Cal Poly scores 61.3 points on 41.5 percent shooting, including 29.3 percent from three. While they're not efficient from the field, the Mustangs do shoot 74.5 percent from the foul line, 53rd-best in the nation. Their schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency rating is 344th, per KenPom.
FINAL | Trevo n Taylor led Cal Poly with 13 points and Chance Hunter reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career, but Cal Poly fell Thursday at Long Beach State.#RideHighhttps://t.co/2L43PJNtPP
— Cal Poly Men's Basketball (@calpolymbb) January 13, 2023
Senior forward Alimamy Koroma paces Cal Poly SLO, averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. The Mustangs also count on solid play from senior guard Trevon Taylor (9.9 PPG and 5.1 RPG), senior forward Chance Hunter (8.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG), junior guard Brantly Stevenson (7.5 PPG and 3.7 RPG), and junior guard Kobe Sanders (7.0 PPG and 2.8 RPG).
The Mustangs give up 64.1 points (53rd-best in D-1) on 42.6 percent shooting, including 32.3 percent from behind the arc. They're 169th in schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency and 357th in assist-per-turnover ratio (0.62).