The Big West Conference saw a big boost on Sunday night from current
member Cal Poly and future member No. 25 San Diego State as the two went
to battle on either side of Los Angeles and managed to knock off both
No. 11 UCLA and USC. Elsewhere in the Big West, a favorite got back on
track while another one hit a skid.
Poly wins at Pauley
Coming into Sunday
night’s contest against No. 11 UCLA, Cal Poly (2-2) had never beaten a
ranked team in program history. With the Mustangs just 1-2 with a lone
win over Northern Colorado prior to heading to Westwood, the Bruins were
expected to handle the Mustangs easily. Midway through the second half,
the game was thought to be over with UCLA holding an 18-point lead. But
the Mustangs quietly launched a comeback bid that began with 12-4 run
and ended with two game-winning free throws as the Mustangs toppled the
vaunted Bruins, 70-68 at Pauley
Pavilion.
It was the second-highest ranked
team the Mustangs have ever faced and it was arguably the biggest win in
school history. The Mustangs also effectively knocked UCLA out of the
top 25.
“To be down is a little
discouraging, but we kept our heads up and we kept fighting,” said Cal
Poly guard Dylan Royer. “As we battled out the points and started to
come back we got more confident and said, 'Hey, we can do
this.'"
Royer attempted 10 shots – all from
behind the arc – and hit six of them to lead the Mustangs with 18
points. The six treys were a career high and his performance garnered
him a Big West Player of the Week
award.
Shabazz Muhammad, largely considered
to be a first round pick in next year’s NBA Draft Lottery, had a
15-point, 10-rebound effort that was matched by Chris Eversly. Poly’s
Kyle Odister came off the bench for 15 points, two of which were a pair
of game-winning free throws.
''We had the
ball up 18 and managed to lose the game,'' said UCLA head coach Ben
Howland. ''Again, you have to give Cal Poly San Luis Obispo credit for
not quitting, not giving up.”
Up 51-33 with
12:21 to play in the second, UCLA turned the ball over and Bryan
Bennett’s dunk keyed a 12-4 run. The Bruins missed every shot from the
field from 10:52 to 7:17 but still managed to hold a 59-48 lead. But
Poly went on a tear, scoring nine straight to close the gap to
61-60.
After a Travis Wear layup with just
under four minutes remaining, Royer hit a game-tying three to even
things up at 63-all. The battle waged on until the final minute. Jordan
Adams' layup tied the game with just 17 seconds left, but Odister hit
two free throws and the Bruins missed a final desperation three as the
Mustangs bench erupted.
“What we
established was we have to play the best teams we can find and play
nationally ranked teams in historic buildings with history, numbers and
McDonald’s All-Americans,” head coach Joe Calero told the San Luis
Obispo Tribune. “We’re going to lose some of those games, and we’re
going to learn how to win them.”
The Bruins
had a close call against UC Irvine, needing a last-second basket by
Jordan Adams to win, and still has to contend with Big West foes Cal
State Northridge and Long Beach State this
season.
Back on Track
Following a rough 0-3 stretch against USC and
top-25 teams North Carolina and Arizona, Long Beach State, the heavy
preseason favorite and a trendy bracket buster pick last season, picked
up a road win over Fresno State over the Thanksgiving weekend. The 49ers
had gone into the game searching for an identity, according to head
coach Dan Monson. The numbers told the story after the Arizona loss: The
49ers were shooting just 38.8 percent from the field and had been
out-rebounded 42-35.5. The turnover margin has also been high and the
team has been lacking energy. It showed up during the home game against
then-No. 11 North Carolina, but Monson had been frustrated with the
team’s lack of focus.
"We're more
concerned about ourselves right now," Monson told the Long Beach
Press-Telegram. "To beat any Division I team, we have to get ourselves
figured out. We have to find an identity to hang our hat
on."
But Peter Pappageorge, a senior
captain, maintained his focus on the two-game swing, scoring a
career-high 16 points against the Wildcats, who were ranked 10th at the
time, and then besting his own mark with 23 points against the
Bulldogs.
Long Beach, now 2-3, won’t get
much of a reprieve. They face LMU on the road then come home to
host the Bulldogs in the second part of a home-and-home, before going on
the road again to face Syracuse, Ohio State and UCLA.
A Good Loss
Cal
State Northridge’s perfect start has come to an end on Saturday, as the Matadors
fell to BYU, 87-75. However, CSUN’s showing in the game was impressive
and the 6-1 start is still the best since the school moved to Division
I. The Matadors have also gained the attention of the CollegeInsider.com
voters who currently rank CSUN at No. 23 in the Mid-Major Top
25.
In front of a sellout crowd of 20,900 -
the largest crowd CSUN has ever played in front of - the Matadors
played the Cougars close throughout, running out of gas in the end as
the Cougars went on a 14-1 run in the final minutes to clinch the win.
Stephan Hicks continued his hot start with 25 points and eight
rebounds.
BYU’s Tyler Haws was nearly
unstoppable, scoring 32 points. But Josh Greene and Stephen Maxwell
balanced the Matador attack with 13 and 17 points each and the bench
gave a solid defensive contribution with 13
rebounds.
"This was a great environment, a
great atmosphere, a really good basketball game," said CSUN head coach
Bobby Braswell. "We came out on the short end of the scoreboard, but I
was really proud of the guys. They fought back after being down. We
showed a lot of heart and poise. This was a great learning opportunity
for us."
A back-and-forth battle came down
to a crucial second half. The Cougars were down by six at the
intermission only to come back to take a 74-73 lead. But a fierce rally
led by Haws was launched. BYU played fast and exposed a huge weakness in
the Matadors’ transition defense. CSUN had a total of zero fastbreak
points while its opponent scored 16.
"We
didn't executive well down the stretch," Braswell said. "We didn't
defend like we should have. This was really a tough environment. You
never want to glorify a loss, but we showed a lot of toughness. There
are some things we can learn from
this."
The Matadors now have a chance to
make that big statement when they head down the 405 to Westwood
Wednesday. The now-unranked Bruins are looking more vulnerable than
originally expected and a win for Cal State Northridge would be the
biggest program milestone yet.
It was a strange weekend for CSUN - in addition to getting their first loss of the season in front of the biggest crowd the program had ever played in front of on Saturday, on Sunday a plane crash-landed on the Cal State Northridge soccer field. Two people suffered minor injuries as the small plane lost power and went down through a chain link fence and flipped over, resulting in a small fire on Sunday afternoon. The pilot and passenger were able to open the door and climb out of the wreckage. They were described in fair condition.
International Flair
UC Irvine has pulled
from nearly all corners of the world with their recruiting class,
getting another LOI from English point guard Luke Nelson this week.
Nelson joins Senegalese center Mamadou Ndiaye and Greek center Giannis
Dimakopoulos.
Nelson helped both the
British U-18 and U-16 teams receive a promotion to Division A while
averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists in U-18
play.
"I am excited to add Luke to our
program, as this is the culmination of two years of recruiting him," UCI
head coach Russell Turner said in a statement. "He burst onto the scene
with his performance in a Basketball Without Borders camp, where some
guys I know from the NBA coached him and I know they are excited we were
able to sign him."
Irvine is looking as
though they are on the road to a long-term build under their third-year
head coach, but in the present, the Anteaters have some things to figure
out that their international trio can’t help
with.
UC Irvine (3-3) has dropped their
last three games starting with Southern Miss and Sam Houston State in
the Progressive Legends Classic in Huntsville, Ala., before carrying
that skid back to California in a 72-62 loss to Pepperdine in Malibu,
Saturday night.
The first two losses were
close ones that got away late, with Sam Houston State getting the best
of the Anteaters in overtime. But the late game miscues seem to be a
trend, as the Bruins took advantage as well in their overtime win over
the ‘Eaters.
However, UC Irvine has still
had some positive aspects to build on. The Anteaters have rebounded
well, pulling down 51 boards against Sam Houston, and have been passing
the ball exceptionally well, spreading the ball nicely to guards Daman
Starring (13.7 ppg) Michael Wilder (10.2 ppg) and Chris McNealy (10.0
ppg).
Cause for Celebration
UC Davis (1-2) finally got its first win,
knocking off Sacramento State 87-76 in the Causeway Classic. It wasn’t a
win over a ranked opponent, but in the Capitol City it’s almost as big,
as the crosstown rivals have gone at it for 111 years. A standing room
only crowd was on hand at the Nest to watch the Aggies score 63
second-half points.
Corey Hawkins, the Big
West’s leading scorer, had the biggest night with a career-high 29
points and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the stripe. J.T. Adrenale also had
a career night with 19 points.
"This was a
fun game to play in, and a good backyard battle,” Adrenale said. “Games
like this are what this (the rivalry) is all
about.”
What to Watch for
UC Irvine will attempt to snap its three-game
losing streak against No. 24 UNLV, Wednesday at the Thomas and Mack
Center. UC Irvine is hungry after giving UCLA a scare but is road-weary
after four-straight games away from the Bren
Center.
Hawaii has rolled to a 4-1 start
this season and is looking for that signature win. With a balanced
offensive attack and a strong front court headlined by Vander Joaquim,
it could come Saturday against UNLV.
Pacific (3-3) travels north to face No. 12
Gonzaga Sunday, after a solid showing in the DirecTV Classic. The
Tigers, ranked No. 25 in the mid-major poll, won two straight against
good Xavier and St. Mary’s teams before falling in the finals to Cal.
