SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

[PointGuard]

Cal Poly Mustangs (18-6, 12-1, 1st place) @ UC San Diego Tritons (11-13, 5-8, 6th place tie)

Bryan King, 1st Assistant Coach (Recruiting)

With 16 minutes remaining in the first half, we wrested a lead that we never game up. We pulled away to go up by a 44-30 score at halftime. We stretched our lead to as much as 25 points in the 2nd half and ripped the Tritons by a final score of 82-62. We hit 57% of our shots compared to 42% by UC San Diego. We were +2 on the boards and made 9 less turnovers than the Tritons.

C Calvin Barnes hit 9 of 10 shots and scored 20 points while also getting 5 rebounds and 3 assists. SG Nikolos Ivelitsch scored 15 points and SF Eddie Erskin had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

[PointGuard]

Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (12-13, 5-9, 7th place tie) @ Cal Poly Mustangs (19-6, 13-1, 1st place)

Carlos and Maria Martinez, local residents

Maria: Along with a couple of good friends, we bought season tickets to Cal Poly basketball games. And with how the Mustangs are playing this season, the games have been a lot of fun to watch.

Carlos: Bakersfield is a good offense, poor defense team this season. They were doing OK in the Big West until the past few weeks during which they’ve lost 5 straight games. Their top scorer is C David Barrett who is averaging 15.8 ppg.

Maria: Preston hit a beauty of a 3 on the Mustangs first possession and then on their 2nd possession, they cleared the lane and Erskin drove to the hoop for an easy layup. CSU Bakersfield picked up 3 fouls in the first 2-1/4 minutes and the Roadrunners’ coach was all over the refs. A minute later, all 5 starters for the Mustangs had scored and Cal Poly was ahead 11-5.

Carlos: Although the Mustangs started strong, the Roadrunners came back with some good shooting to take an 18-13 lead with 12 minutes left in the half.

Carlos: Poor shooting by Cal Poly (38%) and a soft defense that allowed CSU Bakersfield to knock down 54% of their shots kept the Mustangs behind and the first half ended with them on the short end of a 40-33 score.

Maria: The Roadrunners opened a 49-37 lead a couple minutes into the 2nd half. Cal Poly scored the next 12 points to gain a tie with 14 minutes remaining.

Carlos: Midway through the 2nd half, the Mustangs were up by 5 points. Their D was frustrating the Roadrunners and Cal Poly was shooting well. Fouls were really mounting up on CSU Bakersfield also.

Maria: The tide turned though and Cal Poly fell behind again with 8-1/2 minutes to play. The lead then shifted back and forth. With 2:22 to go the game was tied 68-68 after Estell Luton sunk 2 free throws for the Mustangs.

Carlos: Scotty Lee drilled a 3 with just under 2 minutes to play. Boykin then stole a pass and got it up court to Lee for a lay up putting Cal Poly ahead by 5 with 1:15 on the clock. Then Estell Luton picked off an errant Roadrunners pass and Boykin tossed down a dunk. So with a minute to play Cal Poly led 75-68.

Maria: The Mustangs well-played 2nd half resulted in them triumphing by a final score of 78-70. Cal Poly turned the ball over just 4 times while CSU Bakersfield had 14 turnovers.

Carlos: Leading scorers for Cal Poly were PG Scotty Lee with 16 points (he also had 5 assists); PF Rodney Boykin who had 14 points and 8 rebounds; SG Nikolos Ivelitsch with 13 points; and PG Danny Preston with 9 points.

The win gives the 4 of us reason to celebrate with some brewskis and some good live music at the Frog & Peach Pub downtown.

[PointGuard]

Cal Poly Mustangs (20-6, 14-1, 1st place) @ Long Beach State 49ers (13-13, 8-7, 4th place)

Jody Hedde, 2nd Assistant Coach (scouting)

The 49ers have won all 12 of their home games. Impressive! But our goal is to break their streak. Long Beach State is a high-scoring team (75.5 ppg) but defense isn’t their forte (opponents have averaged 77.0 ppg). They don’t shoot that efficiently, but work the boards hard.

We fell behind 19-13 but then scored went on an 13-0 run after Coach Fed stressed working the ball inside. The 49ers came back with their perimeter players PG Trayler, SF Brown, and SG Carter combining for 27 points in the first half. The teams left the court with the score knotted at 38-38.

Midway through the 2nd half we again fell behind by 6 points. But we rallied to slip past Long Beach State. The game was close with several lead changes until we pulled away in the final 3 minutes. We gave the 49ers their first home court loss by beating them 75-67. We were +9 on the boards and outshot Long Beach State 46% to 33%. But our 3 point shooting was atrocious, making just 3 of 19 shots from outside the arc.

SG Nikolos Ivelitsch had 19 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. PG Scotty Lee scored 15 and dished out 5 assists. C Calvis Barnes hit for 11 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 3 assists and 2 steals. SF Eddie Erskin scored 9 and picked off 6 boards.

Since we’re 3 games ahead of 2nd place UC Irvine with just 2 games to play, the win tonight sewed up our finished on top of the Big West Conference.

[PointGuard]

UC Riverside Highlanders (11-16, 7-9, 5th place tie) @ Cal Poly Mustangs (21-6, 15-1, 1st place)

Benny Tamago, realtor (fan)

The Mustangs put on a defensive clinic in the first half, holding the Highlanders to just 13 points over the first 20 minutes. Cal Poly led by 19 points at halftime. The Mustangs eased up some in the 2nd half but held onto their large lead and blistered UC Riverside 61-41. Cal Poly hit 41% of their shots agains just 29% by the Highlanders and was +8 in rebounding and made 4 less turnovers.

SG Nikolos Ivelitsch—16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals; SF Eddie Erskin—13 points, 4 rebounds.

Seniors Nikolos Ivelitsch and Rodney Boykin played their final home game for the Mustangs.

[PointGuard]

Cal Poly Mustangs (22-6, 16-1, 1st place) @ UC Irvine Anteaters (18-10, 12-5, 2nd place)

Tony Burrows, referee

I like reffing a game like this between the two best teams in the conference. Cal Poly has been consistently good and has a 13 game win streak on the line. UC Irvine fell behind the Mustangs 3 or 4 weeks ago, but then won 6 straight before losing their most recent game. Cal Poly is the stronger team defensively and UC Irvine is a good shooting team so is better offensively. So we’ll see which team controls the pace and flow of the game.

I call the 3rd foul of the game against the Anteaters. It’s their PG’s 2nd foul and we’re only 2-1/2 minutes into the game so I get an earful from their coach and the home crowd. But that goes with the territory and there really was no doubt about the foul. The intensity level dramatically increases when their starting C is called for his 2nd foul by one of my partners a minute later. Then when I call what turns out to be the 5th foul against UCI in just over 5 minutes of play, the crowd begins hollering to let them play. But when a defender catches a shooter’s arm, there’s no way we can let something like that go by. The free throws put Cal Poly ahead 8-4. By the midpoint of the half, the Mustangs have a 16-6 lead. The Anteaters come back against Cal Poly’s reserves to tie it at 18-18 with just under 7 minutes to go in the half. With the Mustangs shooting poorly and foul calls going against them, the crowd warms up as UC Irvine runs away to a 36-26 halftime advantage.

UC Irvine puts it to the Mustangs early in the 2nd half and go up by 20 with 13-1/2 minutes left in the game. Cal Poly looks listless and Coach Aura is trying to energize them. We’re not getting much chirping from the fans now when we call a foul. Just about no defense being played by Cal Poly. After shooting abysmally for the first 13 minutes of the half, the Mustangs began to get the ball in the hoop. But because they couldn’t shut down the Anteaters’ offense, Cal Poly was only able to trim what had been a 23 point deficit to the final 78-64 difference. One need not look beyond the shooting percentages (UCI hit 55% while Cal Poly could manage to get just 35% of their shots to go down) to see why this wasn’t a close game. With 1st place wrapped up, the Mustangs just didn’t seem to take this game seriously.

SG Nikolos Ivelitsch scored 22 for the Mustangs and PF Chad Thompson dropped in 27 points for UCI.

[PointGuard]

The Jamie Monroe Big West Review

Big West Conference final standings:

Cal Poly: 16-2, 22-7, NET: 15
UC Irvine: 13-5, 19-10, NET: 69
Cal St. Northridge: 12-6, 15-14, NET: 196
Long Beach St.: 9-9, 14-15, NET: 202
Cal St. Fullerton: 8-10, 8-21, NET: 296
Cal St. Bakersfield: 8-10, 15-14, NET: 246
UC Riverside: 7-11, 11-18, NET: 277
UC Davis: 6-12, 10-19, NET: 329
UC San Diego: 6-12, 12-17, NET: 303
Hawaii: 5-13, 7-22, NET: 351

[PointGuard]

San Luis Obispo Tribune

BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Day 1

#7 seed UC Riverside—70, #10 seed Hawaii—60
#8 seed UC Davis—84, #9 seed UC San Diego—62 (Heideman—32 points, 11 rebounds)

[u]Day 2 (Quarterfinals)
[/u]
#4 seed Long Beach St.—99, #5 seed Cal St. Fullerton—92 (OT) (Rob Traylor—30 points, 8 assists; Jaron Mihm—31 points, 17 rebounds)

#3 seed Cal St. Northridge—96, #6 seed Cal St. Bakersfield—75 (Mike Forrest—38 points; David Barrett—27 points, 12 rebounds)

#2 seed UC Irvine—82, #7 seed UC Riverside—48

#1 seed Cal Poly Mustangs (22-7) vs #8 seed UC Davis Aggies (11-19)

The Mustangs held high-scoring Corey Heideman to just 4 points and the Aggies shooting to 25% to gain a 43-23 halftime advantage. Double teaming didn’t work on Heideman in the 2nd half. He finished with 16 points and 11 boards but Cal Poly smashed the Aggies 85-63. Scoring in double figures for the Mustangs were: SG Nikolos Ivelitsch with 15 points, C Calvis Barnes and PG Scotty Lee who had 11 points apiece, and PF Rodney Boykin who added 10 points.

Day 3 (Semifinals)

#2 seed UC Irvine—79, #3 seed Cal St. Northridge—67 (Pat Dye—28 points and 7 rebounds)

1 seed Cal Poly Mustangs (23-7) vs #4 seed Long Beach St. 49ers (15-15)

The Mustangs struggled the entire first half. Turnovers plagued the team and left them trailing the 49ers throughout most of the half. Long Beach State held a 36-33 advantage at halftime. Cal Poly fell behind by 16 points after 11-1/2 minutes of play in the 2nd half. The Mustangs made a frantic rush in the final 5 minutes to get within a single point with a minute to go. Preston then stole a pass. After a quick timeout, a designed pick and roll play led to Ivelitsch draining an 8 foot jumper to give the Mustangs a 73-72 lead with 47 seconds remaining. The 49ers took a 3 that was off the mark and had to foul. Erskin dropped in both free throws with 28 seconds to play. Bailey then blocked a shot and after a quick foul, Preston knocked down 2 free throws. The 49ers hit a 3 but it was too little, too late. Cal Poly escaped with a come-from-behind 77-75 victory. SG Nikolos Ivelitsch finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. C Calvis Barnes scored 12 and grabbed 6 boards. PG Scotty Lee had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. SF Eddie Erskin scored 10 and had 4 rebounds and 2 assists. PG Danny Preston had 9 points and 8 assists.

Day 4 (Championship)

#1 seed Cal Poly Mustangs (24-7) vs #2 seed UC Irvine Anteaters (21-10)

In a complete turnaround from their semifinal game, the Mustangs exhibited outstanding ball control in the first half, turning the ball over just 2 times. Cal Poly exerted offensive pressure, working the ball inside, driving frequently, and coming away with a bundle of offensive rebounds giving them a series of second hand shots. This pressure resulted in many of the Anteaters getting into foul trouble. So, even though UC Irvine hit a much higher percentage of their shots from the field, the Mustangs were able to build a 41-32 halftime cushion. Cal Poly opened an early double-digit lead in the 2nd half and a solid defensive effort kept UC Irvine from making a serious run. The Mustangs came away with a 76-70 win to give them the conference championship. PG Danny Preston had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. SG Nikolos Ivelitsch also scored 14 points and he pulled down 5 boards. C Estell Luton scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. PF Rodney Boykin scored 10 points and had 8 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

Cal Poly Mustangs Sports Message Board

What a great regular season by our Mustangs! They came away with a winning record (6-5) against a very strong pre-conference schedule. Then they simply blitzed the Big West, on top all the way, and finishing with a 16-2 record, 3 games ahead of the next best team. Next came the Big West Tourney where they rolled off 3 straight wins to be crowned conference champs. Their combined 25-7 record earned them the 15th best NET ranking in Division 1 basketball. And then in the final poll of the season, the Mustangs cracked the Top 25, finishing ranked #22 in the Media Poll and #24 in the Coaches Poll. Now they await their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

The team averaged 72.7 ppg (106th in Division1) while giving up an average of 65.2 ppg (41st in Division 1) to their opponents. Their 36.6 rpg was 32nd best in Division 1, their 5.5 bpg was 48th best and their FT% of 75.6% was 42nd best.

Here’s how their starters and primary reserves have done this season:

PG Danny Preston: 9.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.0 apg
PG Scotty Lee: 7.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.6 apg
SG Nikolos Ivelitsch: 13.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.4 apg
SG Damien Harris: 2.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.7 apg
SF Eddie Erskin: 8.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 apg
SF Louis Taylor: 2.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.2 apg
PF Rodney Boykin: 7.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.4 apg
PF Brandon Bailey: 3.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.0 apg
C Calvis Barnes: 10.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.7 apg
C Estell Luton: 5.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.0 apg

[PointGuard]

The Jamie Monroe Big West Review

[u]Big West Conference teams in post-season tournaments:[/u]

Cal Poly Mustangs (25-7, ranked #22, NET Rank #15)—6th seed in Midwest Region (plays #11 seed Arkansas (18-12)

UC Irvine Anteaters (21-11, NET Rank #61)--#6 seed in East Region (plays #3 seed Wofford (22-9)

#1 seeds in NCAA Tourney:

East Region: #3 ranked Mississippi State (30-4)
Midwest Region: #2 ranked Virginia Commonwealth (32-3)
South Region: #4 ranked Arizona (30-5)
West Region: #1 ranked Miami (FL) (31-3)

Big West stat leaders:

PPG: Corey Heideman, UC Davis—21.7 ppg
APG: Flye DeSantis, UC Irvine—6.3 apg
RPG: DeMarlo Robins, Cal State Bakersfield—8.4 rpg
BPG: Bernard Mendez, UC Riverside—1.5 bpg
SPG: Chris Chatman, UC San Diego—2.3 spg

[PointGuard]

NIT Tournament

Round 1: UC Irvine—86, Wofford—73 (Paul Dye—24 pts, 9 reb)

Round 2: San Jose State—81, UC Irvine—63 (James Green—17 pts, 9 reb)