Cal Poly Basketball, Third in Big West, Heads into Two-Game Home Stand

California Polytechnic State University is tied for third in the Big West standings heading into a two-game home stand starting on Thursday.

Cal Poly improved to 3-2 in the conference with a 90-79 win over Long Beach State last night.

Coach Joe Callero really has this team on the rise. Captain David Hanson recorded his career high in points last night, scoring 22 points off the bench.

Lorenzo Keeler, the other captain, scored 12 points. Keeler is leading the Big West with 23.5 ppg in conference games.

Cal Poly hosts UC Riverside on Thursday in a Big West conference game. The Riverside Highlanders are in last place in the conference with a record of 1-4. More good news for the Mustangs is that Riverside has only won one of nine away games.

With a win Thursday night, Cal Poly can move into a tie for second place in the conference, which UCSB currently holds alone.

After Thursday's game, the Mustangs will return to Mott Gym two days later, playing Cal State Northridge. The Matadors are in sixth place in the conference, and like Riverside, they have only won one game on the road, going 1-7 away from home.

Coach Callero, who is in his first year as Cal Poly's head coach, has the Mustangs at 3-2 in the conference, which is tied with the number of wins the Mustangs had all last year in the conference.

Last year, Cal Poly was 3-13, and this year Callero has the energized Mustangs off to 3-2.

The Mustangs, who were voted to be left out of the Big West Conference Tournament, are currently looking to have a first round bye and at least one home game in the tournament. The season is still young, but Callero is leading the Mustangs in the right direction.