Jesse Summers
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The Cal Poly men’s basketball team (13-13, 6-8 Big West Conference) could not stop the jump-hook shot of UC Irvine’s (18-10, 10-3) Will Davis II on Thursday night at Mott Athletics Center.
The Anteaters’ forward recorded 24 points on 12-for-15 shooting, nearly all of which were recorded from the block with nifty right and left hooks down in the post. Davis also collected five rebounds in a 63-56 victory over Cal Poly.
“He’s a great player,” junior forward Brian Bennett said. “He’s a senior stepping up for his team this year, and tonight he was on fire.”
“Will Davis is certainly in the league MVP conversation,” head coach Joe Callero said. “He has consistently put up double-doubles throughout the season, and he has really showed his growth and maturity this season.”
The Anteaters showed why they are the Big West’s second-place team against the Mustangs by utilizing the tallest frontcourt in the conference. The presence of both of UC Irvine’s 7-foot-2 Ioannis Dimakopoulos and 7-foot-6 Mamadou Ndiaye were felt greatly by the Mustangs, especially by the guards who were unable to finish at the rim in ways they normally can.
“They are a shot-blocking team, and it definitely makes you change your shot,” sophomore guard Ridge Shipley said. “You just have to have confidence in your shot, but it’s definitely a lot harder when you have a 7-footer in your face.”
Shipley helped the Mustangs get out to a hot first-half start by scoring 12 of the team’s first 14 points, shooting 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
“I was glad I could hit them early,” Shipley said. “But I need to work on playing the whole 100 percent of the game and not just knock down shots in spurts.”
Shipley later added eight more points, but those were not enough to combat UC Irvine’s high-percentage shots. The Anteaters shot an incredible 65.4 percent from the field in the first half. They would also knock down five 3-pointers in their dominant 40-point first half.
Both teams would use zone defenses for most of the game; however, Cal Poly began alternating toward the end of the game, changing to full-court pressure to slow the Anteaters. While the Mustangs struggled to get clean, open looks after they cooled off in the first half, Bennett was able to frequently get good shots up.
“Brian got a couple reverse layups and some jumpers here and there because he did a really good job at finding the pockets of the zone,” Callero said.
Bennett finished the game with a double-double, tallying 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Mustangs finished the first half down only by 10 points, but they shot an abysmal 25 percent in the second half, only making four field goals until the final few minutes, where they connected on a few desperation jump shots.
“We were simply outplayed tonight,” Callero said.
Shipley, however, does not think the loss is indicative of their potential in the upcoming Big West tournament.
“I don’t think this is anything we can compare with. We can play with anyone in the Big West,” Shipley said. “I don’t think a single game is going to change that. Our team still has a lot of confidence, regardless of a win or a loss.”
The Mustangs are still in contention for the quickly approaching conference tournament. On Saturday, they will face first-place UC Davis in front of a home crowd in Mott Athletics Center. Game time is at 7 p.m.