Cal Poly snaps 46-game Big West losing streak with 78-69 win over Long Beach State

Mike DeGeorge is no stranger to rebuilds.

At his first head coaching job at Eureka College, his team started out the season with nine straight losses. Then he faced off against his alma mater, Monmouth, who proceeded to beat his team on a 40-foot buzzer-beater in triple overtime.

“I’ve been through this before, and you just have to stay true to who you are,” DeGeorge said. “It’s very easy to pull back and start moving away from what your core values are because you’re not having success.”

At last, DeGeorge and the Mustangs found the success that’s been eluding them in conference play on Saturday, defeating Long Beach State 78-69 and snapping a 46-game regular season Big West losing streak.

The program’s last win came against CSUN on Dec. 29, 2022, under former head coach John Smith, who was fired by the university after the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.

The team also held off Long Beach State despite a career-high 35 points from former Kentucky, Texas and Cal guard Devin Askew.

In non-conference play, the Mustangs showed promise after beating Stanford and putting up competitive showings against major programs such as Arizona State, St. Mary’s and the University of San Francisco.

But the team then faced a difficult stretch of games in December and January that included three overtime matchups and seven straight losses.

To start the Big West season, the Mustangs played the top four teams in UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Davis and CSUN along with a difficult road trip to Hawaii and a loss on a buzzer-beater to UC Santa Barbara. Difficult travel, fatigue and nagging injuries contributed to an 0-8 start in Big West play.

Every loss carried emotional weight. The team’s infamous conference losing streak continued to grow, even though many players were never a part of those previous seasons. If the Mustangs lost on Saturday, they would’ve tied Colgate for second-longest conference game losing streak in Division 1 history.

On Saturday, the Mustangs jumped out to a 19-6 lead fueled by a 14-turnover first half from the Beach. However, instead of attempting 3-pointers, the Mustangs worked their way into the paint. They shot a season-low 15 attempts from beyond the arc and scored 46 points in the paint.

It wasn’t direction from coaches to shoot fewer 3’s. Instead, the team was successful at attacking the basket and finishing.

When Long Beach started to close off the rim and the game slowed down, Jarred Hyder and Owen Koonce converted key baskets to keep the Mustangs ahead.

Hyder finished with 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the field with five 3-pointers. Koonce scored 15 points on 7-14 shooting and added six rebounds. Mac Riniker fouled out but added 16 points and a block.

“There was just a different vibe today,” Koonce said. “We knew that if we are going to get into the tournament at the end of the year, then we got to starting winning games.”

In past games, the Mustangs have sustained 10 to15 minutes of high-level play where the team is executing its concepts well. Due to fatigue caused by a demanding play style, the play toward the end of the games has tapered off.

The Mustangs were on the verge of a similar trend, but their defense held Long Beach State to 40% shooting from the field and 31% from the 3-point line. Outside of Askew, only one other Long Beach player scored more than six points.

Down the stretch, the Mustangs willed stops against Askew, the former No. 1 overall point guard in his high school class.

On one play late in the second half, Askew drove to his right hand and put up a floater, but Luka Tarlac and Owen Koonce stayed with him and the two players swatted away the shot.

Whenever the lead would get close, the Mustangs would respond on offense. When the lead was cut to six points with eight minutes left, Koonce scored a layup and then converted a one-footed jumper at the free throw line to push the lead back to 10.

To close sout the game, Hyder knocked down a 3-pointer in transition and drove hard to the rim for a scoop shot layup.

“I’m proud of this group,” DeGeoge said. “We knew what the challenge was, and they’ve hung in there for us. We’ve had a great attitude from guys that are playing and guys that aren’t. Everybody’s rowing the boat in the same direction, and eventually you’re going to have success when that’s happening.”

The Mustangs play four of their next five games on the road. Cal Poly travels to CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 30. Their next home game is against Hawaii on Feb. 6.