Cal Poly drops home contest to Irvine, get Nwaba back

Ridge Shipley scored a team-high 20 points for Cal Poly, but the Mustangs just couldn’t mount a big second half run. By Owen Main

In a game UC Irvine controlled for the entire second half, the Anteaters used a stellar 24-point performance from senior Will Davis II to outlast Cal Poly 63-56 at Mott Athletics Center on Thursday night.

Shipley comes out firing

Ridge Shipley came out blazing-hot for Cal Poly. The sophomore point guard scored 12 of Cal Poly’s first 14 points in less than four minutes en route to a 20-point performance for the game.

Shipley is averaging over 15 points per game over his last six games and has become a somewhat reliable and consistent outside threat. Joe Callero has traditionally liked point guards who can get themselves or someone else a shot at the end of the shot clock. Shipley definitely fits that mold.

He made a big shot at last year’s Big West Tournament. For Cal Poly to go far in their final two regular season games and then the tournament, he’ll probably have to make a lot more.

Nwaba returns

Junior guard David Nwaba went from just being sick to having uncertainty about his ability to continue playing basketball at all, in just a few days.

After visiting Stanford Medical Center on Thursday morning, Nwaba and the Cal Poly coaching staff received good news just a few minutes before the game: Nwaba was cleared to play.

There is just one problem. Nwaba hasn’t been practicing for a few weeks now. He hasn’t been running, shooting, or really doing anything basketball-related.

Nwaba entered the game as a substitute on Thursday looking to knock the rust off. After making a runner in the lane, the lack of practice showed. In all, Nwaba played 12 minutes, scored five points, and grabbed three rebounds. Callero said after the game that Nwaba will use practice time and Cal Poly’s two remaining games before the Big West Tournament to get himself back into game shape.

Bennett continues solid play

Brian Bennett racked up 17 points and 12 rebounds on Thursday night. He’s now scored in double-figures in each of his last four games. UC Davis comes into town on Saturday. The last time Cal Poly played against the Aggies, Bennett went off for 27 points and nine rebounds. You can bet they’ll be keying on Cal Poly’s junior forward from the Chicago area.

UC Davis will come into Saturday’s game leading UC Irvine by a single game in the Big West Conference standings. With two games to play, Cal Poly is entrenched in seventh place, a single game behind sixth-place Hawai’i and 1 1/2 games behind UC Riverside and Long Beach State, who are tied for fourth place.

Cal Poly has five players averaging more than nine points per game in Big West Conference play, but only seven players averaging over one point per game over the same games.

Photos by Owen Main