UC Santa Barbara lost four times last season. Boasting a stout 12-4 conference record — while also clinching an NCAA Tournament berth — the Gauchos fell to a small handful of teams en route to the Big West Conference crown.
The Mustangs were one of those few teams and, in order to get to where the Gauchos were last season, they will need to prove so again.
The Cal Poly men’s basketball team (8-10, 4-3 Big West) will fight to stay near the top of the Big West Conference tonight when it faces UC Santa Barbara in Mott Gym.
The game will be the first time the two rival teams have met since their last conference game of the 2010 season. Before a sold out crowd of 3,032, the Mustangs were able to pull out a win, taking the lead with 30 seconds remaining. The 60-57 victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Cal Poly, which hadn’t beat Santa Barbara since it swept the Gauchos in 2007.
In a press conference Monday, head coach Joe Callero said the big game is more than just a rivalry and will have a big impact on a lot of different areas for the team.
“What’s great about (the game) is it’s a rivalry, but just having a rivalry doesn’t make it a better game,” Callero said. “It’s kind of a triple whammy. It’s a conference game against a team that’s right there, neck and neck with us. We’re playing the conference champion that has what we want — an NCAA bid and a championship — and it’s a televised game.”
The Mustangs cling to second place, only a half game ahead of five other Big West teams, including UC Santa Barbara.
Forward David Hanson, who leads the Mustangs with 15.2 points per game, said despite the rivalry, the team is more determined to win to retain its Big West standing.
“It’s a big game for us right now because they’re right below us in conference standing at this point,” Hanson said. “It’s going to be more important to keep ourselves in the upper half of the conference.”
But even in second place, remaining in the upper half of the Big West won’t be easy. In a tight race for first, No. 8 UC Riverside is only one game behind Cal Poly.
Callero said one of the keys to Cal Poly’s success is shutting down Santa Barbara’s number one and two scorers, Orlando Johnson and James Nunnally.
“From a defensive end, the number one thing for us is getting back down to contesting that 3-point shot against guys like Nunnally and Orlando Johnson,” Callero said.
Cal Poly’s defense has been the source of its success so far this season. The team ranks first in the Big West in all major defensive categories, holding opponents to 59.4 points per game on a 40.6 percent field goal percentage and 25.9 percent from beyond the arc.
But the Mustangs’ defense will have a lot to manage versus UC Santa Barbara, which is first in the conference, shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and second with a 3-point percentage of 36.2.
Nunnally and 2009-2010 Big West Player of the Year, Johnson, are the top two scorers in the entire Big West. Johnson leads all scorers with 19.3 points per game, and Nunally is second with 18.2 points per game. Johnson is also first in the Big West with a 3-point shooting percentage of 38.9, first in the Big West among players who have taken more than 100 3-pointers and fourth overall.
The Mustangs have been struggling offensively all season. Cal Poly is last in scoring in the Big West Conference, with 55.9 points per game on 37.1 percent shooting.
The game will be televised live on KSBY-TV and is set to begin at 7:05 p.m. in Mott Gym. It is the first of two televised games between the teams this season.