Tall test awaits Cal Poly men’s basketball team at Big West Conference Tournament

Cal Poly men’s basketball coach Joe Callero knows his Mustangs face a daunting challenge this week, one that isn’t seen many other places around the national landscape.

For the third consecutive season, Cal Poly (10-19) earned the No. 7 seed at the Big West Conference Tournament and will face second-seeded UC Irvine at 6 p.m. Thursday at the 18,000-seat Honda Center.

It’s the same position the Mustangs were in when they made a surprise run to the conference tournament title in 2014 and earned the school’s first berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Occupying the opposing bench this week will be an Anteaters team that won the Big West Conference Tournament a year ago en route to their first NCAA Tournament appearance, eventually falling to fourth-seeded Louisville.

UC Irvine (24-8) won the second-most games in school history during the regular season and shared the conference title with Hawaii. It swept both meetings with Cal Poly — including a 78-72 overtime win in San Luis Obispo — and enters the week having won 14 of its last 17 games.

“Our team was very effective in close games this year,” UC Irvine coach Russell Turner said. “There were a lot of games that came down to a possession or two, and our guys had the confidence that we could pull those games out. That’s something that you have to earn.”

What makes the Anteaters so tough?

Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye anchors a 2-3 zone defense that would force any coaching staff in the country to lose sleep. The 7-foot-6 Ndiaye earned his second Big West Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the conference and ranking 13th nationally with 78 blocked shots.

While Ndiaye garners most of the national attention, the Anteaters are far from a one-trick pony. UC Irvine has five players listed at 6-8 or taller, including 7-2 junior Ioannis Dimakopoulos and versatile 6-10 senior Mike Best.

All-conference guards Luke Nelson (6-3) and Alex Young (6-2) have good size and each averaged double-digit scoring while shooting better than 42 percent from the field.

“You just get reminded how long, quick and effective they are,” Callero said of Cal Poly 72-62 loss at Irvine on March 3. “So, you know you have to speed up your release a little bit. I think that’s why they’ve been so effective, because teams do have to adjust the speed in which they play.”

Senior guard David Nwaba turned in one of his best performance of the season during that set back. He scored a career-high 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out three assists and had two steals in 36 minutes.

The Mustangs were more balanced offensively during the first meeting between the two teams in early February. Ridge Shipley and Taylor Sutlive scored 11 apiece, and Nwaba and Reese Morgan added 10 each for Cal Poly.

Nwaba was one of the main catalysts for the Mustangs’ 2014 run, and many of the current veterans played key reserve roles on that team.

“I feel best about the character of the kids we’re playing with,” Callero said. “If we can put our defense, our rebounding and our offense all together in one night or one tournament, we completely believe we’re capable of getting back to the tourney.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Tall test awaits Cal Poly men’s basketball team at Big West Conference Tournament."