Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (4-27, 0-19) lost their 19th consecutive game, falling to the UC Irvine Anteaters (23-8, 16-3) on Thursday, March 7 by a final score of 82-68.
The 19-game losing streak ties the program record for consecutive losses set last season. The Mustangs won their first game of Big West play but lost 19 straight to end the year before defeating Long Beach State in the first round of the Big West Championship.
Heading into John Smith’s penultimate game as the Cal Poly head coach, the Mustangs had won just twice over the Anteaters in their last 21 meetings, with their last win coming just over two years ago.
As he’s done consistently all season long, senior Kobe Sanders led the team in scoring, finishing the game with 22 points on an efficient 8-13 from the field. Three other Mustangs joined Sanders in double figures, including freshman Justin Page who matched a career-high 13 points.
Graduate guard Jarred Hyder scored 13 points in a team-high 37 minutes, while freshman guard Quentin Jones amassed 10 points to go along with nine rebounds.
The Mustangs fought hard out the gate, keeping pace with an Anteaters team that has March Madness aspirations. The largest deficit faced by the Mustangs was 13 in the first half, but the team shot the ball well enough to stay afloat. The Mustangs shot 13-27 from the field in the first half and went 5-9 from beyond the arc.
Despite six first-half turnovers that led to 10 points for the Anteaters, another quiet half from the second unit, and allowing 24 points in the paint, the Mustangs were able to shoot their way into a close contest. Similar to the teams’ last meeting, the Mustangs found themselves in a duel at the half, facing a 35-30 deficit.
In the second half, the Mustangs ]only fired up six shots from three-point territory in the period, making half. The Anteaters shot the ball well throughout the game, which did not change in the second half.
The inability to stop the Anteaters from scoring the ball inside, combined with the Mustangs’ cooling off from the field in the second half, swelled the Anteater lead to as much as 23.
Frustration was visible for Cal Poly, as Sanders picked up a technical foul after protesting a no-call on a layup. It was the second technical foul for the Mustangs on the afternoon after Smith picked one up in the first few minutes, livid about an out-of-bounds call.
The game never became competitive again in the second half, as the Anteaters’ consistent and balanced scoring attack from every player in the rotation proved too much for Cal Poly to handle. In the last several minutes, the Mustangs did a better job of attacking the basket and getting to the line and ended the game on a 20-11 scoring run that led to the final deficit being 14 points, with Sanders scoring nine in that stretch.
The Mustangs will stay on the road for their final game of the season, facing UC San Diego on Saturday, March 9, at LionTree Arena.