Across 40 minutes of action, the Mustangs never led at any point.
Without Cal Poly’s leading scorer, Kobe Sanders, and graduate transfer Jarred Hyder, who were out due to injury, the Mustangs (4-14, 0-6 Big West) lost to UC San Diego (11-6, 6-0 Big West) by a score of 86-61 on Jan. 13 at Mott Athletics Center.
The Mustangs only managed 23 points in the first half.
UC San Diego took control early and never looked back. The Tritons built a 7-0 lead. Cal Poly eventually clawed back, tying the game with 14:06 left in the first half. This was the only moment in the game when the Mustangs weren’t down in score.
Bryce Pope, Hayden Gray, and Francis Nwaokorie led the way, scoring 27 of the team’s 41 points during the first half.
Bryce Pope finished with 17 points, leading the Tritons in scoring for the night. He is currently ranked fourth in the Big West Conference, averaging 18.7 PPG, right behind Cal Poly’s Kobe Sanders.
The Tritons went into half leading 41-23 and continued to control the tempo on both sides of the ball for the rest of the game. UCSD scored 21 points off of Cal Poly’s 15 turnovers.
The junior guard from Lompoc, California, Hayden Jory, brought the energy for the Mustangs. Jory finished with 12 points and five rebounds in the Mustang’s loss. The freshman guard from Hazel Crest, Illinois, Quentin Jones, also scored 12 points and had four rebounds.
After the game, Coach Smith commented on Jory’s performance and his decision to have him in the starting lineup.
“He’s probably the smartest player I have coached in awhile,” Smith said.“He is very gifted from the IQ standpoint. I know I can always put him in there and he will settle the storm, so that’s why he started tonight.”
Cal Poly’s leading scorer and rebounder for the night, Jory, talked about how they can move past their loss to UCSD and pick up their first conference win next Saturday night at Cal State Bakersfield.
“I think we need to just keep chipping away and we need to get back to full strength”, Jory said. “I think that’s not an excuse, but we are missing two key guys. If we keep chipping away and grinding, hopefully we can pick up a win at Bakersfield next week.”
Cal Poly’s Head Coach, John Smith, commented on the status of his key players, Kobe Sanders and Jarred Hyder.
“I won’t know until Monday, Smith said. Hopefully Kobe will be available by Saturday. He has a stress fracture in his foot and Jarred has an MCL sprain. Jarred probably needs one more week and will not be available until the Cal State Fullerton matchup.”
With these injuries, the Mustangs are uncertain about what their lineup will look like moving forward. The team made constant substitutions, and no player stayed on the floor for over 30 minutes.
Cal Poly hopes to have their star player, Kobe Sanders, back by next Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. The Cal State Bakersfield (5-11, 0-5 Big West) Roadrunners have lost 5 straight and are also looking for their first conference win of the season.