The Cal Poly men’s basketball team blew a four-point halftime lead in a 52-45 loss at UC Irvine on Wednesday night, dropping the Mustangs into a third-place tie with the Anteaters and Hawaii in the Big West Conference standings.
Cal Poly (9-10, 5-4) was led offensively by Chris Eversley, who had 15 points, four rebounds and a team-high three assists, and Drake U’u, who had eight points and eight rebounds.
The Mustangs struggled at the free-throw line, shooting 10 for 19 for a 52.6 percent mark. U’u missed five consecutive free throws to end the game, finishing 4 of 11 from the foul line.
Dylan Royer added six points and six rebounds for Cal Poly, which defeated Irvine 72-67 at home Jan. 5.
Adam Folker had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Anteaters (11-11, 5-4), and Daman Starring added 12 points.
Big West Basketball standings
Big West games All games
W L W L
Long Beach 8 1 12 8
Pacific 6 2 12 8
Cal Poly 5 4 9 10
Hawaii 5 4 11 9
UC Irvine 5 4 11 11
UC Davis 4 4 8 11
CS Fullerton 4 4 11 9
UCSB 3 6 7 13
UC Riverside 2 6 5 15
Northridge 1 8 10 11
Wednesday’s Games
UC Irvine 52, Cal Poly 45; Long Beach State 57, UC Santa Barbara 55.
Today’s Games
Hawaii at UC Riverside; Cal State Northridge at Cal State Fullerton,
