Cal Poly basketball clinches spot in Big West tournament on last day of the season

LONG BEACH — As the final buzzer echoed up the tilting walls inside Walter Pyramid, Cal Poly secured a chance to play once again.

With the team’s 83-69 win over Long Beach State, Cal Poly secured the seventh seed in the Big West Championship for the first time since the 2014-15 season. A loss would’ve meant the season came to an end, but the Mustangs have moved on to the playoffs.

After failing to secure a conference win last season, the Mustangs have made a remarkable turnaround under Head Coach Mike DeGeorge. It’s been a tale of resilience as the team clawed back into the Big West playoff picture.

“It’s just rewarding to see the growth that the guys have had,” DeGeorge said. “As a coach, your goal is to just try to help them be playing their best at the end. It’s always rewarding when they do, and it’s frustrating when you don’t see that consistent growth. And so it’s just awesome that they’re playing at the level they are.”

The Mustangs had a strong start to non-conference play, including competitive losses to Power 4 programs and a historic win over Stanford, but immediately after the victory, the team lost 10 out of its next 11 games.

That was quickly followed by murmurs of a historic conference losing streak dating back to two years prior.

The Mustangs hadn’t won a game in the Big West regular season since 2022, and conference play began ominously this year again.

As the losses pile up, the frustration mounted on and off the court. The team felt like it would be competitive in the Big West, and it wasn’t coming to fruition.

Cal Poly relies on quick ball movement and intentional spacing to break down a defense, but as games wore on early in conference, the offense stalled and devolved into one-on-one play. The poor offensive execution bled into the defense energy, where the team needs every edge it can get because of its lack of size and athleticism.

Despite being just a mere game from recording the second-longest conference losing streak in Division I history, the Mustangs picked up their first win against Long Beach State on Jan. 25. From that point, Cal Poly finished on an 8-4 run, including three straight wins to close out the regular season.

“I think it speaks to the maturity of the group,” DeGeorge said. “They’ve done it a long time. They didn’t overreact to it. They hung together, stayed within our system, and just kept trying to find ways to get better.”

Even against Long Beach State, the Mustangs had to work through a hot start from Devin Askew, who scored 21 points in 21 minutes. However, he left minutes into the second half after going down with an injury.

As shots continued to fall for Long Beach, the Mustangs stayed the course. They forced Long Beach into shot attempts late as the possession clock wound down. On offense, their continuous motion caught defenders flat-footed and opened up 38 3-point attempts that resulted in 18 makes.

Issac Jessup scored 15 points on five 3’s and surpassed the career 1,000-point mark, joining teammates Jarred Hyder, Owen Koonce and Mac Riniker.

Hyder knocked down six 3-pointers for 25 points. Koonce added 20 points and four 3-pointers as the Mustangs shot 47% from the field and 47% from long distance. The team then pulled away in the second half.

One thing DeGeorge has repeated throughout the season is being a process-driven program.

Win or lose, he and the team have closely tinkered with their process to find the right formula. They turned to more switching on defense to help the players with their fatigue levels throughout the game. They’ve worked with the players in understanding what they want to do offensively and made compromises.

The results are apparent. The team ranks as the 25th-highest scoring team in college basketball at 81.6 points per game and attempts the third most 3-pointers. The defense and turnover problems have gradually improved.

DeGeorge described the season in three segments.

The first was the team’s non-conference showing. The second was the losing streak during Big West play and the last few non-conference losses. The third is the last half of the season in which the team has won a majority of its conference games.

“It’ll be great to create a fourth segment,” DeGeorge said.

No. 7 Cal Poly opens the Big West tournament on Wednesday against No. 6 UC Davis at 8:30 p.m. All games will be played at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.