Concluding its first home stand of the season, the Cal Poly men's basketball program hosts Fresno State inside Mott Athletics Center on Saturday, Dec. 14. Tip time is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (2-7), which seeks just its third victory against Fresno State (2-6) during the previous 49 seasons and past 21 matchups.
Cal Poly, which opened its home stand by topping Siena, 70-66 (Dec. 7), enters Saturday's game against the Bulldogs leading the Big West Conference and ranked 31st among 350 Division I programs with a 38.8 (62-for-160) percent three-point mark. Fresno State, heads into the week having dropped four straight games, most recently falling to UNLV (Dec. 4) in double overtime, 81-80, and at No. 25 Utah State (Dec. 7) in overtime, 77-70. Fresno State visits California on Wednesday evening before heading to Cal Poly.
"Anytime you play a team with the caliber of Fresno State in the Mountain West Conference, it's a great accomplishment, but every game is important for us, and we're just taking it one week at a time, one play at a time, one game at a time," head coach John Smith said. "These types of teams help prepare us for conference play."
"Being able to defend late in the game, getting crucial stops, and then obviously executing on the offensive end, that was big for us in beating Siena, so hopefully we can do the same thing on Saturday," senior guard Jamal Smith added.
CAL POLY VERSUS FRESNO STATE: Cal Poly has defeated the Bulldogs just once in Fresno State's last eight visits to Mott Athletics Center during the previous 48 years. That victory came on Dec. 5, 2015 with Cal Poly topping Fresno State, 77-65. Overall, Fresno State has won 19 of the past 21 meetings and leads both the all-time (50-19) and common Division I (11-2) series. The Bulldogs won last year's matchup in Fresno, 76-67 (Dec. 1, 2018).
-Provided by Cal Poly
