Cal Poly basketball loses to UCSB as struggles continue: ‘We have to find a way’
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Cal Poly’s men’s basketball team was hoping to add a bright spot Saturday night to a season in which they have had to search for moral victories.
But the Mustangs fell just short for the second straight home game this week — losing to rival UC Santa Barbara 69-64 at Mott Athletic Center for their ninth straight defeat to the Guachos.
Cal Poly (5-17, 1-9 Big West Conference) got off to a hot start, going up 10-0 to open the game, while playing lockdown defense against the Gauchos in the first few minutes.
But after UCSB clawed their way back to pull ahead 33-28 at the half, led by Guacho Ajay Mitchell’s 13 points toward his game-high 25, Cal Poly couldn’t get over the hump of a five to 10 point disadvantage throughout the second half.
The Mustangs shot 42% from the floor, but only 19% from the 3-point arc (4 of 21 shots), while UCSB knocked down 52% of its shots, including 9 of 17 from deep.
Cal Poly, the last place Big West team, struggled shooting the ball down the stretch against UCSB (11-9, 3-4), marking another game that got away — despite a solid defensive effort and hustle, as Cal Poly held a 35-23 rebound advantage.
The Mustangs lost at home Thursday in double overtime to Northridge 83-78 and their only conference win came on Jan. 27 versus UC San Diego.
Four Mustangs players scored in double digits versus UCSB — Trevon Taylor (15), Brantly Stevenson (14), Camren Pierce (10) and Alimamy Koroma (10).
“We battled,” said Cal Poly Head Coach John Smith. “We’re a depleted, young roster. And that’s a very talented team that’s coming off of a NCAA tournament run. We fought them toe to toe with great grit and great resiliency. Hopefully, they make it through these growing pains and see the fruits of overcoming the losses with the fight they put up.”
Smith said he was pleased with 6-foot-6 junior Trevon Taylor’s toughness. Taylor pounded the glass with nine rebounds and fought for loose balls.
“We need that physicality from him, which wavers at times, but part of that is that we’re down two guys at his position,” Smith said. “He gets worn out. He was very impressive tonight and I was happy he withstood the fight.”
Koroma, a 6-foot-8 junior from Sierra Leone, said he’s confident in the young Mustangs team, but also acknowledged frustration.
“We beat ourselves tonight,” Koroma said. “We didn’t get stops when we needed. We turned the ball over. We let them be them and we weren’t us.”
Koroma said the result was disappointing in front of a crowd of 2,117, the largest Cal Poly turnout of the season.
“I just want to lead my team to win,” he said. “I just want to be a better leader on and off the floor, on both ends of the floor. It is exciting to play at home. That’s why this is emotional to me. Everyone came out. We couldn’t pull out the win.”
Program tries to overcome setbacks
Mission Prep graduate Kyle Colvin a Cal Poly junior, is contributing roughly eight points and four rebounds per contest. But he is one of the sidelined Mustangs.
Colvin, who had a hip surgery last year, had a flair up recently and he’s listed as game by game down the final stretch of the season.
“I care about Kyle more as a person than basketball player,” Smith said. “I just want him to make sure he’s completely healthy for his future. I don’t want him walking around limping like me.”
Cal Poly is led statistically by Koroma, who averages about 13 points and 5 rebounds per game.
Koroma said: “It’s frustrating, a learning curve, but I trust the coaches, my teammates, but we just have to find a way to get the community and the crowd a better look basketball-wise, and it’s frustrating we can’t provide that. But we’re going to learn everyday to try to achieve that.”
Smith said it doesn’t matter who you play in the Big West, every game “will be a dogfight.”
“We have to take it media timeout by timeout and manage our emotions and stamina, and we’ll be fine,” Smith said.
Smith said his team needs to get better shooting-wise, but “that will come.”
The Mustangs have only one senior, Tuuka Jaakkola, in their lineup — and four freshman and three sophomores saw playing time Saturday.
As for the program’s progress, he said: “I like where we’re at as a program. These guys have been thrown into the fire way before they were supposed to in terms of minutes and learning, and I think it’s going to bode well for the next two years. As long as we’re bringing in the right character guys and talented guys, they’ll fit into this community and program.”
The Mustangs have six more games in Big West action, including three at home, ending the regular season on March 5 at Mott Gym against UC San Diego.
Cal Poly returns to action at UC Davis on Thursday and UC Riverside on Feb. 19.
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Cal Poly basketball loses to UCSB as struggles continue: ‘We have to find a way’."
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