The Cal Poly men’s basketball program opens its 23rd season of Big West Conference action when visiting Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Jan. 9 inside The Thunderdome before hosting CSUN on Saturday, Jan. 12 inside Mott Athletics Center.
Tip time against the two highest scoring Big West programs is 7 p.m. each evening for Cal Poly (4-9), which has won five of its last seven Big West openers – including overturning a 21-point, first-half deficit versus UC Santa Barbara a year ago. Winners of five of its last six games and having totaled the fewest losses among Big West programs thus far, UC Santa Barbara (11-3) leads the conference with just 64.3 points allowed per game, a 48.1 percent field goal mark and 40.1 rebounds per game. CSUN (6-10), averaging a Big West leading 77.8 points per game alongside UC Santa Barbara, has won three of its last five games after beginning the year with just one victory in six. The Matadors open their Big West schedule Wednesday at UC Riverside.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: The Mustangs seek their first win at UC Santa Barbara since delivering a 72-64 victory on Jan. 11, 2014. Overall, however, Cal Poly has won just once at UC Santa Barbara in its last 11 trips south. The most frequent opponent in Cal Poly’s program history, UC Santa Barbara won last year’s matchup inside The Thunderdome, 86-61 (March 3, 2018) and eliminated Cal Poly from the 2018 Big West Tournament with a 75-53, quarterfinal-round win. The Gauchos lead both the all-time (72-35) and Division I (38-14) series
CAL POLY VERSUS CSUN: The Mustangs have prevailed in eight of their last nine home matchups versus CSUN – including a 90-86, double-overtime victory last season (Feb. 22, 2018). CSUN, the second most frequent opponent in Cal Poly’s history, trails in the all-time series (55-47), but leads in Division I matchups (21-20).
-Provided by Cal Poly
