After a pair of losses last weekend to Cal State Fullerton and CSU Bakersfield, the men’s basketball team is preparing for a set of home games against UC Riverside tonight and UC Irvine on Saturday.
The team claims a 13-11 record, and this weekend’s games are critical if the Mustangs hope to move up in the Big West standings. The team is currently 4-6 and ranked seventh in the conference, while Riverside ranks fourth and Irvine ranks sixth.
Forward Chris Eversley scored a career-high 19 points in the Jan. 21 match-up against Cal State Northridge when the Mustangs scored 100 points. He and head coach Joe Callero spoke at a press conference Feb. 6 about the upcoming games.
“Continuing hard work is something we all have to do,” Eversley said at the press conference. “We push each other. We got a little bit away from Cal Poly basics. We got some back in the second game (against CSU Bakersfield), but we’ve got to get back to defensive principles.”
The Mustangs lost to UC Riverside on Jan. 14, but defeated UC Irvine a few days earlier on Jan. 12.
“There’s a lot of tape out there,” Eversley said. “(Our opponents) know us just as well as we know them. There’s not as much physical work, but you have to be mentally sharp.”
Callero said at the press conference that he feels “really strong and positive” about the home stand this weekend.
“It’s home cooking,” Callero said. “We’re going to have our own locker room, our own bench. We can get hot, get a little more rhythm (and) play really well before the tournament in March.”
He said he plans to cut down on practice times to increase energy for the coming games.
“We’ve had great practices,” he said. “We’ve been together for six months, and we’ve had no bad practices.”
He said many people forget his team is made up of students, as well as athletes.
“People forget that they have midterms, and that they have to do their laundry and run to the bank,” Callero said. “These guys have been working six days a week for six months. We need more energy and more enthusiasm on our home court.”
Senior point guard Amaurys Fermin has started all 24 games this season, and ranks second among Big West players in assists with 88.
“We know who we are as a team, and we know what we’re capable of,” he said. “It’s about going out there and being more aggressive, knowing who we are as a defensive team.”
This season’s 14 home games bring more competitors to Mott Gym than any season since 1999-2000, when the team hosted 16 opponents.
Including this weekend’s match-ups, the Mustangs have six conference games remaining on the schedule and an additional non-conference game against Northern Colorado, a 2011 NCAA Tournament qualifier. Although the Mustangs can’t catch conference-leader Long Beach State, a team that is unbeaten in the Big West, the last stretch of the season will determine Cal Poly’s seeding in the Big West Tournament. An eighth-place finish would, in all likelihood, pit the Mustangs against the 49ers.
Cal Poly’s game against UC Irvine on Saturday night is preceded by the women’s basketball team, which takes the court at 4 p.m. The home games against UC Riverside tonight and UC Irvine on Saturday both start at 7 p.m in Mott Gym.