Cal Poly drops to 0-2 after opening weekend

For a while, this one looked like the November 2012 Cal Poly upset at UCLA.

The play-by-play guy was calling a Cal Poly player by the wrong name. Two of them actually. Jaylen SHEED and Luke McLee were important in Cal Poly’s runs. (Remember Kyle OE-dister) The Mustangs were shooting the lights out. Arizona State seemed a little stunned at the end of the first half of an early-season game.

Early in the second half, Cal Poly built a five-point lead. Then it all fell apart. A few turnovers. A few missed shots. A few easy Arizona State buckets. The lead ballooned to 10.

Cal Poly tried to find a way, but couldn’t get a grip on the game. The lead grew to 15. This time, Cal Poly’s defense wasn’t able to hold enough to allow them to claw back. Not that they could have. Arizona State’s defense clamped down and allowed the Sun Devils to go on a big . The Sun Devils outscored Cal Poly by 53-26 over the final 16:26. So, giving up 53 points in that short span isn’t going to win anybody any games.

Kyle Toth was unconscious on Sunday in Tempe, pouring in 21 points. By Owen Main

There were some good signs early though. For the first 25 minutes, Cal Poly played exactly how they have to in order to have success this season. Jaylen Shead was timely in his penetration, generally making good decisions. Josh Martin crashed the glass. Ridge Shipley made shots. Kyle Toth was freaking unconscious.

There were some things to work on, too. Simple things like passing to the wing sometimes eluded Cal Poly’s guards. Cal Poly’s interior defense allowed Arizona State to shoot 58 percent on 2-point shots and the Sun Devils got to the foul line nearly twice as much as Cal Poly (42-22 attempts). In the end, the Mustangs couldn’t hold-their slim margin and early hot shooting against Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils.

With the loss, Cal Poly drops to 0-2 on the season after their first weekend. They looked better against Arizona State than they did at Pepperdine, but there is still a lot of work to be done if they want to compete and possibly contend in the Big West.

This week, they’ll get a chance to work on some things. Up next, Joe Callero’s squad will host a pair of non-Division I schools this weekend.

First they’ll play Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday at 7:00. On Friday, the Mustangs will host Bethesda (of the National Christian College Athletic Association, or NCCAA) in a 2:00 pm game. The Saturday game will make for an interesting double-header for Cal Poly athletics. The basketball game should be over by 4:00 or so, which should give fans a few hours to eat and get recharged for Cal Poly football’s last gasp at a playoff birth at 6:05.