Hawaii’s second-half surge hands Cal Poly men’s basketball a fourth straight defeat

A trying season for the Cal Poly men’s basketball team continued Saturday night.

Coming off an overtime loss to UC Irvine three days earlier, the Mustangs couldn’t keep pace with visiting Hawaii in the second half and lost their fourth straight game, 75-60, in front of a sellout crowd at Mott Athletics Center.

The Rainbow Warriors (18-3) completed the season sweep of Cal Poly and moved into a tie for first place in the Big West Conference standings at 7-1. Many of the Mustangs’ conference losses have come down to one or two possession late in games, but Hawaii made sure that wouldn’t be the case this time.

Junior forward Stefan Jankovic scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds — both game highs — to lead three Rainbow Warriors in double figures. He was the focal point of a Hawaii team that handed Cal Poly (8-14, 2-7 Big West) its most lopsided conference loss since the 2013-14 season.

“I think that the tough losses tonight mounted on us,” head coach Joe Callero said, “and emotionally we became very soft and felt very sore … about losing another game.”

How it happened:

A 9-0 run to start the second half helped Hawaii build some separation, while Cal Poly went 4 minutes, 31 seconds without a field goal. That stretch, which included three air-balls, proved to be the difference and the Mustangs never fully recovered.

After Taylor Sutlive’s 3-pointer pulled Cal Poly within 39-37, the Rainbow Warriors responded with a 12-0 run that put the game away.

Hawaii senior point guard Roderick Bobbitt — the Big West Defensive Player of the Year last season — scored 15 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes. Aaron Valdes added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in the victory.

“We can’t beat these good teams in conference playing well for 30 minutes,” said senior Reese Morgan, who led Cal Poly with 10 points and six rebounds. “It’s just not going to cut it.”

What it means:

With less than a month left in the regular season, Cal Poly is tied with Cal State Fullerton for last in the nine-team Big West standings. The Mustangs’ eight total victories match Cal State Northridge for the fewest in the conference.

However, the Matadors are banned from the postseason this year, meaning Cal Poly is guaranteed a berth in the Big West Tournament in March. It could also mean a third matchup with Hawaii or UC Irvine, two teams likely to contend for the conference championship and No. 1 seed.

“I was very heated with our team,” Callero said. “I only get heated a couple times a year, and this was as heated as I’ve been with the team because the general feeling was a little bit of a pity party.”

Who stood out:

Three days removed from a standout performance against UC Irvine, true freshman point guard Jaylen Shead made the first start of his career Saturday night.

Arguably Cal Poly’s best dribble penetrator, Shead created several early scoring opportunities for his teammates and finished the game with nine points, five assists, four rebounds and no turnovers in a season-high 29 minutes.

A native of Pflugerville, Texas, Shead has improved steadily since the beginning of the season. He said making his first collegiate start did not affect his mindset before the game and his level of play seemed to warrant Callero’s decision to insert Shead into the starting lineup.

“The coaches have been telling me to attack more,” Shead said, “and my team has given me more confidence about getting to the basket, because I can be aggressive.”

Luke Meikle, Josh Martin and Brian Bennett scored eight points apiece to lead the Mustangs offensively.

Up next:

Cal Poly faces another significant challenge when it goes to Long Beach State (12-12, 6-3 Big West) for a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday. The Mustangs’ most impressive win of the conference season came against the 49ers in double overtime last month.

Long Beach State is 4-1 since that setback, while Cal Poly is 1-5 during the same stretch.

“One of the things you get with a team that suffers body shots, is you get internal bleeding and you can’t see it,” Callero said. “What we saw tonight was a team that had some internal bleeding and it made me sick. I don’t believe in that. You’re not allowed to have that.”

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Hawaii’s second-half surge hands Cal Poly men’s basketball a fourth straight defeat."