Cal Poly men’s basketball will host Cal State Northridge this week, looking to maintain their undefeated conference record.
Jefferson P. Nolan
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The Cal Poly men’s basketball team is 2-0 in the Big West Conference, but as head basketball coach Joe Callero put it, his team is nowhere close to popping the champagne.
After victories against Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara this past week to start Big West play, the Mustangs hope to match the basketball program’s best start to conference when they host Cal State Northridge on Thursday in Mott Athletics Center (MAC).
“I feel like we’ve learned a lot from our preseason schedule,” Callero said. “But if we were 0-2 right now, I wouldn’t be panicking, and now that we’re 2-0, I’m not celebrating. When you go on the road and face adverse conditions and talented, athletic teams, you just get better.”
In fact, before scheduling teams such as then-No. 5 Arizona, Oregon and Stanford, Callero asked his leaders on the team if they were prepared to be matched against some of the top-ranked teams in the nation.
“In the preseason, we knew that we could be 2-9 going into conference and we’d be prepared,” senior forward Chris Eversley said. “We were 4-9, but the strength and athleticism we saw in the pre-conference season was different.”
And when the Matadors come to San Luis Obispo, Callero and his squad know what they’re up against.
The Matadors, also 2-0 in the Big West after victories against UC Davis and Hawaii, currently hold a .477 shooting percentage. They currently lead the Big West with their 3-point percentage at .392, and their current free-throw percentage of .775 leads the Big West and ranks No. 4 in the nation.
The Matadors’ forward Stephan Maxwell was recently named Big West Player of the Week after the junior sank 21 consecutive free throws in the past four matchups. In its past two games, Cal State Northridge has made 50 of their 54 attempted free throws.
“Northridge is very explosive offensively,” Callero said. “They’re very quick. Josh Green is probably one of the quickest kids in the entire conference and Maxwell is a very athletic inside post. We have tremendous respect for them, but we just need to keep getting better. It’s only going to get harder as the year goes on.”
In his first year at the helm of the Matadors’ basketball squad, head coach Reggie Theus has high expectations for his team. The former head coach of the Sacramento Kings is off to a promising start, and a victory on Thursday would mark only the second time in program history that the program started 3-0 in conference.
But on Thursday night, the Mustangs will be prepared to match the intensity of the Matadors.
The Mustangs have won 15 straight conference games inside the MAC dating back to last season, and have won 16 of their last 17 at home. A weekend sweep would earn the program its best ever start to a season in conference play.
Anthony Silvestri proved to be Cal Poly’s secret weapon against UC Santa Barbara last week — the junior forward sank five 3-pointers and contributed a career-high 17 points to lead his team to victory.
“We’re playing our best basketball right now,” Silvestri said. “We had a long preseason and played a lot of top teams. I came in (against the Gauchos), got some good looks from my teammates and they were getting me open.”
After taking on the Matadors on Thursday, the Mustangs will complete their weekend home stand when they host Long Beach State on Saturday.