Cal Poly extends win streak over UH

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. » Christian Standhardinger was at a loss.

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team’s latest defeat at Cal Poly seemed to be a real head-scratcher.

The Warriors (11-4) had the best record of any Big West Conference team heading into conference play. The Mustangs were a disappointing 4-9 coming in, though their nonconference schedule included losses at Arizona, Pittsburgh, Oregon and Stanford.

Hawaii appeared to have upgraded its lineup after last year’s 29-point blowout loss at Mott Athletics Center.

Cal Poly was reeling from a four-game losing streak. Hawaii had won nine of 10.

Then the ball tipped and neither team resembled the resume it had built on paper.

The Mustangs cruised to a 77-65 victory Thursday, controlling all but one short-lived run.

"To be honest with you, I have no clue," said Standhardinger, who scored 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and grabbed five rebounds. "I really don’t know. I know I prepared. I know we all prepared. Somehow it didn’t work."

The loss extended a five-game losing streak to the Mustangs, who own a 5-1 all-time series lead. All five of the victories have come under fifth-year Cal Poly coach Joe Callero, and the past four games have been with Gib Arnold at the helm for UH.

For some reason, Hawaii struggles to play well against the Mustangs.

"I don’t know why that is either," Standhardinger said.

"Last year, we were a whole different team. We have two new players in the starting five. I really don’t know."

One of those players, JC transfer Garrett Nevels, came up with a team-high 16 points on Thursday. San Jose State transfer point guard Keith Shamburger had a subpar game, going 0-for-3 from the floor with three assists.

In fairness, everyone in the Big West is finding it tough to win at Cal Poly. The Mustangs have won 15 straight conference home games.

Cal Poly didn’t have much of an answer for its success against Hawaii, either. The Mustangs only pointed to an attitude that places much more emphasis on conference success.

"They’re a solid team all-around," Cal Poly senior forward Chris Eversley said. "They have good players at every position. The mind-set we have with them is nothing special. When we get in conference play in general, it’s just a mind-set that we just have to have. Our goal is to go out and dominate every statistical category.

"We understand this team is going to test us. We just have to go out there and succeed."

Eversley and sophomore David Nwaba tied for the game-high scoring honors with 17 points apiece, and each Cal Poly forward slammed home two momentum-snatching dunks.

Eversley had an all-around effort with nine rebounds and six assists, and Jamal Johnson (15 points) and Kyle Odister (12) rounded out the Mustangs’ scorers in double digits.

Cal Poly came into the game shooting just 29.7 percent from 3-point range but hit its first four from outside.

Odister, Cal Poly’s leader with 29 3s coming in, hit his first two in the opening minutes, and an Eversley dunk helped give the Mustangs a 10-2 lead.

And it didn’t stop there.

Ridge Shipley, Jamal Johnson, Eversley and Anthony Silvestri hit one 3-pointer apiece, and when Silvestri came off the bench to nail his, the Mustangs took a 30-15 lead with just under eight minutes left before the break.

Conversely, Hawaii started 0-for-6 from 3-point range and didn’t sink its first until Nevels connected moments after Silvestri.

Cal Poly pushed its largest lead to 18 points when Nwaba followed a steal and slam with a long-range jumper, and the Mustangs were up 38-20 with five minutes left in the first.

Then Cal Poly lost its touch. The Mustangs missed their next four 3s as the Warriors finished the half on a 10-3 run and cut the lead to single digits at 41-32, taking them into the locker room with some momentum.

But within the first 3 minutes of the second half, Cal Poly had its lead back out to 17 as Hawaii struggled to maintain its steam.

The Warriors had a hard time feeling good about their first-half effort, even though they carved into the lead to put a scare into the Mustangs.

"Of course not, we were down nine," Standhardinger said. "We had a little run, but I don’t know. I would love to tell you something."

UH next plays at Cal State Northridge on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Halftime — Cal Poly 41, Hawaii 32 3-points goals — Hawaii 4-19 (Nevels 2-6, Enos 1-4, Spearman 1-5, Thomas 0-1, Shamburger 0-3). Cal Poly 8-19 (Johnson 2-4, Odister 2-5, Eversley 1-2, Shipley 1-2, Sutlive 1-3, Silvestri 1-3). Steals — Hawaii 6 (Smith 3, Shamburger 2, Nevels). Cal Poly 9 (Eversley 3, Johnson 2, Odister 2, Nwaba, Silvestri). Blocked shots — Hawaii 4 (Fotu, Spearman, Smith, Rozitis). Cal Poly 4 (Awich 2, Eversley 2). Officials — Daryl Gelinas, Martin Cichocki, Brady Chelette. A — 2,559.