Mustang basketball showing some improvement after first half of Big West play

Cal Poly men’s basketball took a while to do it, but it seems that they’re finding out how to be competitive with the roster they have. After beating first-place UC Davis on Thursday night, the Mustangs fell to UC Riverside at Mott Gym, dropping their conference record to 2-7 and overall record to 7-16.

So yeah, first of all, this season has been a struggle. 

The Mustangs lost two of their best players in Josh Martin (injury) and Jaylen Shead (left school) before Big West play even started. After a 10-game losing streak, Joe Callero’s team has gone 2-2 in their last four games, with both wins coming against the first-place team in the Big West. Let’s take a look at how they’ve done it.

There are numbers involved.

Shoot your shot

Cal Poly has been guard-heavy all season. Their two most dynamic players are listed at 5’10” and 6′ respectively, but I would put it more at like 5′ 8″ and 5′ 10″… maybe… with shoes on. Even after they lost Shead, their roster, and the ball, are still dominated by guys who are around six feet tall or less. 

So three-pointers were going to be big for this Mustangs team to win. Their offense allows them to shoot 3’s and layups and, for the most part, this team is getting enough open looks. In their wins over UC Irvine and UC Davis, Cal Poly shot 37.5 percent in each game. In their seven losses, they are a combined 29.3% from distance. 

I said before the season (I thought hyperbolically) that the Mustangs would shoot 40% from downtown in at least a few games that they’d win on their three point accuracy alone. While that hasn’t happened, that eight percentage point difference between how they’ve shot in wins vs. losses equates to about 2 three-pointers per game. 

Cal Poly’s margin in conference play: minus 6 points. That’s two three-pointers. 

The moral of the story — the Mustangs have to make more of the open shots they get if they are going to compete.

Victor Joseph is finding his stride as a scorer for Joe Callero’s team. By Owen Main

Joseph finding his stride

In his first year of Division I play, junior Victor Joseph took about two thirds of the season to really find his stride. After a hot streak of games early in the season, Joseph cooled off around the new year. In the last four games, the Chaffey College transfer has scored over 20 points and averaged 21.5 points over the past four games to show that he can score with anyone.

When Joseph is paired with Donovan Fields and Ridge Shipley in the back court, Cal Poly has a shifty, heady group of guys who can create penetration and find open shooters. 

Toth due?

While I’m on the subject of three-pointers and scoring, Kyle Toth seems due. The senior shot 46 percent from deep in pre-conference play, but as teams have scouted him a little better, his percentage has gone down to 31 percent in nine Big West games. Toth is the kind of player who can go on a hot streak. Look for him to perhaps get his shooting legs back and have a few more big games. His sharpshooting would go a long way toward opening up the lane for penetration from the other three guards. 

Unbalanced Big West

This year’s Big West schedule is not a balanced one. Through nine games (they play 16 total), the Mustangs have completed their home-and-home conference series’ with UC Irvine and UC Davis before ever facing CSUN, UC Riverside, or Hawai’i. After losing to UC Riverside at home last week, Cal Poly will have a single game this week on Thursday night at Hawai’i. The Stan Sheriff Center is always a tough place to play and Hawai’i currently sits in a 3-way tie for 4th place at 5-4. Everyone in the Big West currently has a record at or above .500 other than central coast schools Cal Poly (2-7) and UCSB (1-8). 

Cal Poly’s game against Hawai’i on Thursday tips-off at 9pm Pacific Time.