Cal Poly Offense Comes Alive, Races Past Northern Colorado

Behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from junior Chris Eversley, the Cal Poly men’s basketball team came back from a six-point first half deficit to beat Northern Colorado 64-53 on Thursday night. The win was their first of the year.

Senior Chris O’Brien seems to always be in the right place at the right time. By Owen Main

The victory marked Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero’s third home opener victory in four years.

Cal Poly has seen a big contribution from freshman center Brian Bennett. After posting a double-double in his first college game, Bennett scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds against Northern Colorado. Senior Dylan Royer contributed 13 points — 10 in the second half. Royer was only 1-6 from the field in the first half before he, and the rest of the Mustangs got hot. Cal Poly was 5-10 from 3-point range in the second half after going only 1-11 in the first.

First Half Photos Here

For Cal Poly, shooting 43 percent from the field in the second half had to have been a relief after shooting just 31.7 percent combined in their first three halves of the season.

The matchup with Northern Colorado was an interesting one. Cal Poly, known for their defensive efficiency, vs. Northern Colorado, the nation’s top 3-point shooting team from a season ago. Just five days removed from a 127-point performance in an exhibition game, Cal Poly held the Bears to just 53 points on 3-18 from behind the arc.

Jamal Johnson, who had 7 assists and 2 turnovers in the contest, found his way into the lane much more consistently in the second half. By Owen Main

Jamal Johnson gave his coach everything he wants from a point guard, racking up seven assists to go along with five points and only two turnovers in 32 minutes of play.

While it’s still early in the season a few things are shaping up already for this Cal Poly team:

* Chris Eversley is going to have to be in beast mode every game for the Mustangs to have a shot. Whether it’s drawing double-teams, scoring, or rebounding, Eversley is clearly the Mustangs most talented offensive player. He’s going to put up big numbers this season.

* The Freshman Question: Callero addresses it in the press conference (below), but one big question Cal Poly has had coming into this season has been with freshmen. Center Brian Bennett has looked like he belongs right from the beginning. At 6’9”, Bennett is not getting pushed around by anyone. Fellow freshman center Zach Gordon saw more minutes at TCU last week than vs. Northern Colorado. While he will be a less-consistent contributor than Bennett early-on, his play, and playing time, should become more consistent as the season goes on and he gains more experience. Reese Morgan who was so highly-regarded as a recruit, still looks like he’s getting his confidence back in his knee. Morgan has had two surgeries already since he’s been on-campus and, for a shooter, having a base that you aren’t fully comfortable with is a hard thing. Morgan seems to be moving well, playing good defense, taking charges, etc… but he’s missed a lot of basketball and getting your rhythm back as a shooter isn’t an easy thing after a leg injury. Just ask Kyle Odister.

* The O’Brien Factor: Senior Chris O’Brien was out all of last year with a knee injury. O’Brien, the son of a high school coach, is like another coach on the floor for Callero. While he went only 1-4 from the field, O’Brien still managed 9 points in 20 minutes of play, hit a 3-pointer in the middle of the decisive Cal Poly run, and helped to hold Norther Colorado’s 3-point shooters down. Callero has preached the virtues of senior leadership for each of the past two seasons and O’Brien, Royer, and Drake U’u will be those seniors Callero will be leaning on this year.

Post-game comments below.

Photos by Owen Main

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