Cal Poly blown out by UCSB to end the season

The first three games of the 2018 Big West Tournament were close, hard-fought contests. The final game was basically over a quarter of the way through. The Gauchos made three pointers on their first two possessions and on three of their first four possessions to lead 9-2 less than three minutes into the contest. Eventually, they built-up to a 41-14 lead late in the first half and went to halftime leading by 27 points, 45-18. The final score was 75-52.

For a 7th-place team that has managed to stay close in many conference games this season, Cal Poly was not close in this one. Facial expressions went from confusion to frustration. From a deer in headlights to a bull in a china shop. Nothing was working for the guys in green. 

Players on the outside of the timeout huddle looked around the Honda Center, trying to process the blue freight train running through Cal Poly’s upset dreams. Mustang fans hollered with a tone that seemed both upset and disbelieving. 

In an arena that had seen three hard-fought games to start the tournament, people looked around and wondered what was going on.

Luke Meikle was the late-game hero when Cal Poly beat UCSB in January. By Owen Main

It wasn’t just one thing that Cal Poly didn’t do well. Sure, Cal Poly missed shots, going 0-6 from three-point range in the first half.

As the third-worst two-point percentage team in the nation (vs. Division I opponents), pulling off an upset against the bigger, stronger, and faster UCSB team without making tons of three-pointers was never going to be possible. 

The Mustangs didn’t defend well either — UCSB got a number of open looks. The Gauchos more than doubled Mustang rebounds (23-11) and assists (12-4) in the first half and seemed like they got whatever they wanted. UCSB shot 10-22 from downtown for the game, bringing the three point percentage of Division I Cal Poly opponents up to 40 percent for the season (6th worst in the nation). 

Cal Poly played a little harder in the second half, but were never really in it. They made an 11-0 run at one point to cut the lead to 20. In the end, it was too much to overcome. Frustrations mounted. Kuba Niziol, who received a technical foul early in the game, received a Flagrant-2 for not playing the ball on a hard foul and was ejected. In the end, the deficit was 22 points as UCSB rested their regulars for the final five minutes or so. 

Maybe it was the late-night Honda Center atmosphere and the exhale of fans who had seen three close games. Maybe it was the body language of players on both teams. For whatever reason, the whole thing just seemed surreal. 

The loss ends the worst season of the Joe Callero era. Cal Poly finished the season 9-22 overall (4-12 in regular season conference play). Cal Poly lost seven of their final eight games. They didn’t win a conference road game and didn’t win away from Mott Athletics Center after November 22nd, when they beat a top-100 College of Charleston team that won their conference regular season title and CAA tournament. That game came after the only road game the Mustangs won all season — at Santa Clara. Cal Poly finishes the season ranked 322 (out of 351 Division I teams) on KenPom.com. 

When asked about what they learned about Cal Poly in the first matchup — a 83-82 Cal Poly win in early January — UCSB coach Joe Pasternak said it was more about what UCSB learned about themselves. 

“It really wasn’t about Cal Poly, it was about ourselves,” said Pasternak. “We had to tighten our defense up and I think sometimes a loss does that — it wakens your guys up to listen more. I think that we had an incredible film session the next day to really dissect our defense and from that point on we’ve taken a huge step.”

For Cal Poly, Callero talked after the game about UCSB’s shooting being the key to their victory. 

The 7-seed in the tournament was the fifth straight year Cal Poly has held that spot. The first year, they won the tournament, but the Mustangs have bowed-out in the first round each of the past four seasons. 

“Top to bottom, the parity is incredible,” said Pasternak after the game, when asked about the close early games. 

For Cal Poly fans, a close game probably would have been just another loss. Instead, the non-competitive blowout loss is going to be a really tough pill to swallow, and the taste is going to be hard to wash out.