Cal Poly beats Islanders, move to 5-4

The Cal Poly men’s basketball team finished a sweep of Texas schools on Saturday, beating Texas A&M Corpus Christi 82-70 to improve their record to 5-4 on the season.

The Mustangs, who lost to the Islanders in South Texas last season, used their best shooting game of the season to extend their lead to 21 points at halftime. TAMUCC came out in the second half on an extended 24-9 run, cutting the lead to six points at 53-47 and again at 58-52 with 9:43 to play.

Cal Poly’s Luke Meikle and Victor Joseph responded, knocking down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back up to 12. The Mustang lead would stay in double digits the rest of the game.

Off the Bench

Victor Joseph has been a consistent source of points off Joe Callero’s bench. The junior transfer from Chaffey College has proven he can knock down open shots, which is something a casual observer might expect from a small guard.

What someone might not expect is Joesph’s ability to score in the paint and make big plays at big times. Cal Poly started four guards on Saturday night and none of them were Victor Joseph. Over his past five games, Joseph is averaging 17.6 points off the bench.

Toth stays hot

Kyle Toth can shoot. The senior was 5-8 from three-point range on Saturday night en route to a 17-point performance. Toth has used only 13 percent of Cal Poly’s total possessions but is still leading the team in scoring. What does that mean? Well, he doesn’t really ever turn the ball over and he only takes good shots, which he makes. Sounds pretty good, right?

Toth ranks 7th in the nation in KenPom.com’s offensive rating while shooting 54 percent from downtown. He’s only turned the ball over once. All year. The dude knows his role and has played it to perfection thus far in the season.

He’s a big part of why Cal Poly is leading the Big West in three-point shooting at nearly 40 percent.

No bigs, no problem?

Joe Callero said on Saturday that forward Josh Martin will miss the entire season with a foot injury. Martin is Cal Poly’s most explosive offensive player, not to mention his rebounding ability (he grabbed 21 boards in Cal Poly’s opener at Pepperdine this year), so his loss really hurts Cal Poly.

In response to Martin being out, Callero has gone with a more guard-oriented lineup. On Saturday, Cal Poly started four guards. They were listed at 5′ 10″, 6′, 6′, and 6′ 1″, respectively alongside 6’9″ center Zach Gordon. Gordon played just a few minutes before missing the rest of the game to injury.

With all that, Cal Poly out-rebounded TAMUCC  30-25.

Luke Meikle’s versatility is likely to be in high demand as Cal Poly continues to prep for conference play. By Owen Main

Two players who figure to be pivotal in Cal Poly’s rotation are Luke Meikle and Kuba Niziol. Meikle is Cal Poly’s leading returning scorer and has also taken a role off the bench alongside Joesph with maturity. Meikle’s versatility allow Cal Poly to play him as a stretch four or five with an array of offensive skills.

Meikle scored 13 points and had seven rebounds while playing a solid defensive game Saturday night.

Jakub (Kuba) Niziol was going to redshirt this year. But with injuries to Josh Mishler and Josh Martin, Niziol is the next man up. What he brings to the Mustangs is a little different body type while fitting the shooter skillset. The sophomore is a long 6′ 7″ wing player who can shoot and use his long arms on defense.

Going up against longer, more athletic teams, Kuba’s play off the bench over the next few weeks could give Cal Poly another stretch forward if they want to go “big” and play only 2 or 3 guards.

Up next

Because of Dead Week and Finals Week the next few weeks, Cal Poly only has a single afternoon game on each of the next two Saturdays. This weekend, the Mustangs will go to Fresno State and they’ll visit Cal in Berkeley the following Saturday afternoon.

Cal Poly’s next game at Mott is not until January 12th (vs. CSUF).

Photos by Owen Main