No one else thought much of Cal Poly last February and March. The Mustangs thought enough of themselves, however.

Cal Poly, the No. 7 seed in the 2014 Big West tournament, improbably rolled to wins in three games in three days at Anaheim’s Honda Center for the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth.

Coach Joe Callero’s team was healthy and it was confident. And Callero now sees parallels between that team and his current group fighting to get over .500 in the Big West regular season.

The Mustangs have a reputation for getting better in any given league matchup in the second or third meeting.

"We have kids who really buy into (adjustments)," Callero said. "They’re really, really coachable and we gives ourselves a chance to be competitive in March. Maybe we don’t win all those games in January, but we’re always right there."

Hawaii will have to contend with that, among other adverse factors at the Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo on Thursday. UH has never won in three meetings in central California.

Since 2010, Cal Poly has won six of seven meetings in what has become a perplexing one-sided series. It’s the highest win percentage for the Mustangs among Big West opponents.

UH’s 65-50 loss at Long Beach State on Saturday was one of only a few instances this season in which the Rainbow Warriors weren’t in it late, as they put up a season low in points while shooting just 34.5 percent from the field.

"We gotta start locking in and being more focused," UH coach Benjy Taylor said. "We gotta know how to play at more than one speed, execute halfcourt offense and halfcourt defense. We don’t do that, we won’t win."

For the next (third) game in UH’s four-game road swing, the ‘Bows had to make a four-hour drive up the coast from Los Angeles in the wake of the LBSU loss. Meanwhile, big men Stefan Jankovic, Stefan Jovanovic and Mike Thomas had what Taylor called "food poisoning," right after the defeat, while guard Garrett Nevels had a virus.

Taylor said everyone was 100 percent by Tuesday and was pleased with energy during Wednesday’s practice.

Jankovic has been UH’s most consistent scorer lately, with double-digit production in the past six outings. Over that span, he’s shooting 30-for-52 (57.7 percent).

The Mustangs are stingy in both giving up the ball and yielding buckets once opponents finally gain possession, a potentially difficult combination to surmount. They allow a Big West-low 59.6 points per game and are second nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 8.5.

But UH is 11th nationally in turnover margin, and forces a league-best 17.6 per game with its frenetic defense. The ‘Bows forced 18 against the Mustangs at the Stan Sheriff Center on Jan. 7, but came up empty in some key late plays and lost 61-57 in overtime.

"They have an explosive team, they have the ability to score in bunches," Callero said. "The more comfortable you get against their press, the traps, double teams, defensive denials, that if you can get yourself in position to make it a halfcourt game, we have a much better chance of winning."

Since the last meeting, Cal Poly made sophomore Ridge Shipley the starting point guard and shifted Maliik Love to combo guard.

Forward Brian Bennett hurt UH last time with 20 points and eight rebounds and has played well lately, as has frontcourt mate Joel Awich. Athletic leading scorer David Nwaba (12.8 ppg) has been kept in check by opponents recently. Guard Reese Morgan (17 points at UH) has been in and out of the lineup with knee soreness, but is expected to play Thursday.

Cal Poly will likely again hit UH with multiple defenses, including a 1-3-1 zone it threw out for several minutes in Honolulu.

UH has yet to win or lose two in a row this conference season. It is 7-0 coming off a loss in 2014-15.