Cal Poly knocks off top-seeded UC Irvine
Cal Poly picked up its 12th win Friday night, which left the Mustangs only 22 behind Wichita State’s victory total this season.
Cal Poly also won its fourth game ... since Jan. 23. It got swept by UC Irvine in the regular season and humiliated at Loyola Marymount.
Fresno State defeated Cal Poly and so did Delaware.
In college basketball, of course, none of that matters.
All that matters now is how hot a team from San Luis Obispo, with a losing record, can remain over three days at the Honda Center.
One night after routing second-seeded UC Santa Barbara by 31 points, seventh-seeded Cal Poly upset No. 1 UC Irvine, 61-58, in the Big West tournament semifinals.
Friday’s win put the 12-19 Mustangs in Saturday’s Big West title game against Cal State Northridge.
“We get to stick around for Saturday,” said Cal Poly Coach Joe Callero. “That’s pretty cool.”
Cal Poly may have a losing record, but beating the top two teams in the Big West by 34 points was not lucky.
“There’s nothing like doing something,” Callero said.
You can argue the fairness of putting so little weight on the regular season and a Big West format that does not even give byes to its top teams.
The one thing you can’t argue is whether Cal Poly de- served to win these two games.
The Mustangs ran Santa Barbara off the floor Thursday and had Irvine playing catch-up the entire second half.
Cal Poly committed only 11 turnovers in the two wins.
Irvine had to fight back from a 10-point deficit just to get a chance in the end.
The Anteaters, in fact, got two shots.
Senior Chris McNealy was first, missing a three with six seconds left.
“I had a look,” he said. “It was a lot of pressure on me, but I got a good look.”
Irvine got a last look after Cal Poly turned the ball over in its own end with 2.6 seconds left.
Travis Souza tossed it in to Luke Nelson, who heaved an airball at the buzzer.
That’s also when the air went out of Irvine’s fine 23-11 season. As Big West regularseason champions, the Anteaters are guaranteed a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The goal, of course, was to get the school to its first NCAA tournament.
There was nothing to do but credit the winners. Cal Poly played harder and smarter. It learned in its two previous losses how better to deal with 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye.
Cal Poly center Brian Bennett, giving away nine inches, hit several high arc floaters over the giant freshman. Bennett made four of seven shots and finished with 12 points.
Ndiaye finished with only one block.
You could tell which team was dealing with pressure and which was playing with Big West house money.
Cal Poly forward Chris Eversley was physical inside and finished with seven rebounds and 14 points. Guard David Nwaba added 14 and made four of his five shots.
Cal State Northridge 82, Long Beach State 77: The fifth-seeded Matadors (17-17) defeated the third-seeded 49ers (15-17) in the late semifinal game to earn a spot in the championship game.
Junior guard Stephan Hicks led Northridge with 27 points.
It is Northridge’s first trip to the finals since 2009, when the Matadors defeated Pacific in overtime.