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The Mustangs return home to host Cal State Bakersfield in a non-conference game on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 pm. This game is also the Coaches vs. Cancer® weekend, a collaborative initiative of the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Cal Poly coaches will wear sneakers instead of dress shoes with their suits during the game to demonstrate their support for the American Cancer Society and its vision of a world with less cancer and more birthdays. The Mustangs enter the game with an 8-11 overall record while CSUB enters with a 3-16 overall mark. Cal Poly is coming off a 80-57 loss at UC Santa Barbara where Lornezo Keeler scored a team-high 20 points. The Roadrunners lost in overtime, 92-84, to Big West foe Cal State Fullerton. All Cal Poly men’s basketball games are carried live on ESPN 1280 including the pregame-show, beginning 20 minutes prior to tip. Games can also be heard on the internet at www.espnradio1280.com. Home and all conference games can be viewed on www.bigwest.org/tv.

What’s coming up: Following the game with the Roadrunners, Cal Poly will return to conference play and travel to UC Davis and Pacific for games on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6. This will mark the beginning of the second round of play against Big West Conference foes. The Aggies are currently 4-3 in BWC games and will travel to Long Beach State for a game on Saturday. The Tigers lead the conference with a 6-1 BWC record and are 16-6 overall and will play at UC Riverside on Saturday.

TV Games: The Mustangs will have a pair of games televised on FSN Prime Ticket this season. The Mustangs’ game at Cal State Northridge on Feb. 17 will tip at 7:30 pm while a second game, this one in Mott Gym, is scheduled for Feb. 24 against Cal State Fullerton, also at 7:30 pm.

A Quick Look at the Teams:
                               CP     CSUB
Record:                  8-11     3-16
BWC                        5-3     --
Points PPG             69.3     67.0
Rebounds PG         34.2     37.4
Shooting %            43.8     38.0
3-Point %               34.7     29.8
FT %                      71.0     68.1
Steals PG                 5.5     6.0
Assists                     11.4     9.1
Blocks PG                 2.4     2.5
Turnovers               14.5     14.4

Cal State Bakersfield. : The Roadrunners enter the week with a 3-16 overall record and falling in overtime to Cal State Fullerton 92-84 on Jan. 26. CSUB dropped a 64-63 decision to Utah Valley Univ. on Jan. 23. Trent Blakley leads the Roadrunners with 15.6 points per game. Stephon Carter adds 12.5 with Santwon Latunde scoring 10.9. Latunde is the team’s top rebounder with 8.6 boards per game. CSUB shoots 38 percent from the floor and hits 30 percent from long range. The Roadrunners are 3-6 at home this year while 0-10 in road games. Head coach Keith Brown is in his sixth year with Cal State Bakersfield.

Projected Cal State Bakersfield Starters:
No.Pos.   Name                       PPG     RPG
12  f         Trent Blakley           15.6     4.6
42   f         Santwon Latunde    10.9     8.6
11   g        Donavan Bragg         9.5     3.0
22   g        Marcus Hall               2.9     1.3
24   g        Stephon Carter         15.6     4.6

Some History with the Roadrunners : Cal State Bakersfield holds a 29-24 advantage over the Mustangs in the all-time series including a 70-63 win on Dec. 31. In the game Stephon Carter led all scorers with 22 points when he was four of 12 from the floor but made 14 of 16 from the line. Last season the Roadrunners defeated the Mustangs twice, winning 66-64 in Bakersfield and 57-52 in San Luis Obispo. The series with CSUB started in 1972.

Callero Begins First Season At Cal Poly: Joe Callero became the fourth head coach at Cal Poly since the school made the transition to Division I in 1994. He enters his inaugural season in San Luis Obispo attempting to rebuild a program which finished last in the Big West in 2008-09 and did not qualify for the conference tournament. Callero comes to Cal Poly from Seattle University, where he oversaw the beginning of the Redhawks’ transition period to the Division I level. He led the Redhawks to a 21-8 record in 2008-09. In eight seasons at Seattle, Callero compiled a 117-105 record.

Best Ever Start in BWC Play... : The Mustangs 5-3 BWC record is the best start in school history since joining the conference in 1996-97 season. The team opened the 1996-97 season 4-4, 4-4 in 2001-02, 4-4 in 2002-03, 4-4 in 2005-06, and 4-4 in 2006-07.

What’s in a Half: Senior Lorenzo Keeler was 0-for-two from the floor and one of two from the line in the first half against UC Santa Barbara on Thursday. In the second half he came alive and finished with 20 points, hitting five of 10 from the floor and seven of 10 from the line... In the second half he hit five of eight from the floor and three of five long range.... In that same game UCSB’s James Nunnally scored 17 points in the first half and only three in the second half...

Since Conference play began... : Senior Lorenzo Keeler is third in conference games with 19.1 points per game, sophomore David Hanson is 11th with 12.8... Hanson is 15th in rebounding with 4.6 ... Field goal percentage: Hanson is 9th, hitting 47.6 percent. Shawn Lewis is third in assists with 3.3 and leads the conference in three-point percentage with 60 percent... Freshman Kyle Odister is fifth in long range shots hitting 40 percent.

The Keeler Count: Senior Lorenzo Keeler is on track to pass 1,000 points in his career at Cal Poly... Keeler currently has scored 947 points in his Cal Poly career. Keeler came to the Mustangs as a sophomore transfer from Mt. San Jacinto College. Keeler entered the year with 656 points and has scored 291 this year.

Three in a Row: The Mustangs won three games in a row, twice this year... When was the last time the team won three straight... 2007-08 season when the team defeated Northern Illinois, Utah State and Souther Utah... When was the last time the Mustangs won three straight in conference... 2006-07 season when they closed out the season with seven straight...

In the Clutch: Junior Shawn Lewis went to the line with 1.9 seconds remaining and the score tied 65-65 in the game with UC Riverside... He made two of three to get the win 67-65... On Saturday he hit a three pointer with 1:55 left in the game to put the Mustangs up for good in the win over Cal State Northridge...

The Sixth Man... : Sophomore David Hanson has become the spark off the bench averaging 8.6 points and 3.8 rebounds a game. Hanson averages 22.5 minutes a game and hits 45 percent of his shots from the floor..

Where Have you Been.....: Sophomore walk-on Jordan Lewis is sixth on the team in scoring with 6.8 points and adds 3.1 rebounds... he has started every game with the exception of the opener against USF and the Long Beach State game. In the LBSU game, Lewis came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points and grab a career-high nine rebounds... . Lewis is averaging 24.8 minutes a game.... Where was he last year.,.,, he saw action in seven games, averaging 4.6 min and averaged 0.7 points.....

Missing in Action: Sophomore Will Donahue missed the Cal State Bakersfield game and the first three Big West games and remains waiting clearance to play due to academic issues...

What Cal Poly is Missing.... without Donahue:

What Donahue Does Best... : Sophomore transfer Will Donahue makes it look simple... the 6-8 post player recorded his fifth double-double of the season when he scored a season-high 19 points and recorded a season-high 13 rebound in the game with Montana State. Donahue has also tallied double-doulbles against South Dakota State (13 pts. 10 reb.), Seattle (13 pts. 11 reb.), UALR (13 pts. 10 reb.) and Stanford (10 pts. 12 reb.).

And Eight in Double Figures: Not only does he do it at both ends of the court ... He also puts up the points... Donahue has scored in double figures in eight of the 10 games this season with his season-high coming against Montana State with 19 points. He added 17 against Pepperdine, three games of 13 (South Dakota State, Seattle and UALR).. His first double figure game of 10 points came against Stanford in the second game of the season.

What a Darling....: Senior Ryan Darling had a dream come true against UC Davis... the walk-on and former team manager who earned a spot as a junior on the roster.... Recorded a double-double in the game with the Aggies... Darling scored 10 points in 23 minutes of play when he made five of seven shots from the floor... He made it a double-double when he corralled 12 rebounds... For the season Darling is averaging 1.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.9 minute of play... In BWC games he checks in with 2.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.3 minutes.

Freshman Impact...: Starting point guard Kyle Odister is fifth on the team in scoring with 8.3 points per game. The true freshman shoots 45 percent from the floor and 47 percent from long range. He has started in 15 of the team’s 18 games and scored his season-high 23 points in the conference opener at UC Irvine.

16 and 19: Those are the numbers Cal Poly had to overcome to pick up two wins this season... The Mustangs came from 16 back against Seattle and 19 back against Pepperdine...

Rebounding: The Mustangs have outrebounded opponents 621-582....34.5 to 32.3... due in large part to Will Donahue who averages 8.8 rebounds per game.... but the Mustangs have five players averaging better then three per game... two coming off the bench...

Good to be back Home...: Home is where I want to be... After opening the season with five-straight road games the Mustangs returned to Mott Gym and picked up their first win of the season 85-74 over Seattle and defeated Pepperdine 83-77. This season Cal Poly is 5-2 at home. Over the years Cal Poly has enjoyed a home court advantage... winning 445 games while losing only 211 since Mott was built in 1960....

Life on the Road...: The Mustangs opened the 2009-10 season with five straight road games, covering three states before returning home to open the home season... but it was a quick stop, hosting Seattle and Pepperdine on Dec. 3 and Dec. 5, before returning to the road to cover two more states... South Dakota State and Wisconsin.. The Mustangs still have to look forward to a road BracketBuster game..

Keeler Named BWC Player of the Week: A scoring explosion and an accurate touch netted Cal Poly’s Lorenzo Keeler Big West Men’s Basketball Player of the Week honors for the week ending Jan. 10. Keeler shot 60.0% (24 of 40) from the field, 45.5% (10 of 22) from three-point range and 90.9% (20 of 22) at the charity stripe as the Mustangs went 2-1 for the week, sandwiching wins against UC Irvine and UC Davis around a loss to Pacific. The 6-2 guard pumped in a career-high 38 points in a 95-81 road win in Cal Poly’s Big West opener versus UCI on Monday. He made a career-high 12 field goals in 18 attempts, including six three-pointers, to help the Mustangs to a season-high in points. He added four rebounds and three assists. Keeler posted a team-high 18 points in a 73-63 loss at home to Pacific on Friday. After successfully converting all eight of his free throw attempts in the UCI game, he knocked down all six of his foul shots versus the Tigers as well. Keeler finished up the week with a team-high 22-point performance in a 72-69 win over the Aggies on Sunday. It was his fifth 20-point effort of the season. His streak of 27 consecutive made free throws ended when he missed his first attempt late in the second half versus UCD. Keeler, who made 7 of 12 shots in the game, helped the Mustangs record their first home conference win since Feb. 28, 2008. This is Keeler’s second career Big West Player of the Week honor.

Basketball Signs Two: Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero announced that Jamal Johnson and Maliik Love have signed national letters of intent to enroll and participate in the sport of men’s basketball at Cal Poly.

Johnson, a 6-0 point guard from Madison High School in San Antonio, TX, has led his team to 132-19 record over the last four years. Two years ago Madison was ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation by ESPN and advanced to the Texas 5-A final four and finished with a 34-2 record. Johnson has been ranked by ESPN as the No. 62 point guard in the nation and averaged 10 points, 5.2 assists, four rebounds as a junior. Described by his high school coach, John Valenzuela, as one of the most unselfish players, he shot 42 percent from long range. As a sophomore Johnson was tabbed as a Blue Chip recruit when he was named tournament MVP of the prestigious 64 team McDonald’s Invitational held in Pasadena, TX. The 170-pound guard played AAU with S.A. Rohawks and averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists per game. He is the seventh player from Madison HS to play Division I basketball in the past four years.

Love comes to Cal Poly from The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, CA. The 6-4 combo guard was named player of the year for the Coastal South League when the team posted a 25-5 record and won the CIF-San Diego Section Division IV title. . Love averaged 20.8 points per game to go along with 9.9 rebounds. The all-around player added 3.7 assists and 3.1 steals per game. As a sophomore the 195 pound guard averaged 16.2 points and 2.8 rebounds a game for a team that went 21-9 for head coach Tom Tarantino. The 200-pound guard has been tabbed as one of three players to watch as possible county player of the year.

Last Time out (Mustangs at UC Santa Barbara, 1/28/10) SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara’s James Nunnally scored 20 points while the Gauchos hit 52 percent of their shots from the floor in defeating Cal Poly, 80-57, in a Big West Conference game on Thursday in front of 3,066 fans. With the loss Cal Poly falls to 8-11 overall and 5-3 in Big West play while UCSB improves to 11-7 and 6-2. Nunnally’s 20 points came when he hit seven of 12 shots from the floor including four of five from long range. Orlando Johnson added 18 points with Jaime Serna scoring 12. Nunnally had 17 points at the half. Cal Poly was led senior Lorenzo Keeler with 20 points, 19 in the second half. Keeler hit five of 10 shots from the floor including three of six from long range and seven of 10 from the line. Sophomore David Hanson scored nine points with Justin Brown and Kyle Odister each scoring seven. UCSB hit 27 of 52 shots from the floor and connected on eight of 22 from long range while Cal Poly shot 35 percent from the floor and 26 percent from beyond the arch. UCSB held a 33-29 advantage in rebounds with Johnson leading the team with nine. Will Taylor led Cal Poly with five. The Mustangs turned the ball over 21 times while UCSB had 15. UCSB opened a 17-7 lead in the first seven minutes of the game, but Cal Poly closed the gap to four (17-13) on a Kyle Odister three with 11:44 left in the half. Nunnally hit back to back three’s and added a free throw to stretch the lead to 24-14 with 6:50 left in the half. The Mustangs struggled from the floor and were held for over eight minutes without a field goal when Justin Brown broke the UCSB 14-0 run with a jumper at 3:14. UCSB went to the break with a 38-18 lead. The Mustangs shot just 32 percent in the half and turned the ball over 13 times. UCSB hit 52 percent from the floor and made six of 15 from long range while committing six turnovers The Gauchos continued with the hot hand to open the second half, outscoring the Mustangs 11-6 over the first four minutes (15:35) of the second half. At the under 12 minute timeout (11:56), UCSB had opened up a 32 point lead (57-25). UCSB led by as many as 35 (62-27) midway through the second half (10:06) The Mustangs would get no closer then 23 down the stretch.

Last Time Against the Roadrunners: (Dec. 31, 2009) , – BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Cal Poly’s Will Taylor recorded a double double for the Mustangs but Stephon Carter scored 22 points to lead Cal State Bakersfield to a 70-63 win over Cal Poly in a non-conference men’s basketball game in Bakersfield on Thursday. With the loss the Mustangs fall to 3-8 while CSUB picks up its second win and improves to 2-10 for the season. Senior Lorenzo Keeler led the Mustangs with 17 points with Jordan Lewis adding 11 points. Taylor, making his second start as a Mustang, scored 10 points and led the team with 12 rebounds. Santwon Latunde and Trent Blakley added 13 and 12 points respectively for CSUB. Cal Poly shot 36 percent from the floor and made just two of 16 from long range. CSUB shot 36 percent from the floor and made only three of 12 from long range. The difference in the game came at the line with the Mustangs going to the line 10 times and making nine while CSUB shot 43 free throws and made 33. CSUB held a one rebound advantage (42-41) and turned the ball over three more times (10-7). The Roadrunners moved out to its biggest lead of 11 with 10:38 left in the game on a pair of free throws by Carter.. Cal Poly closed to three (58-55) with 3:21 on a layup by Shawn Lewis, but could get no closer. Cal Poly was within four, twice, as late as 43 seconds left. At the half CSUB held a 29-22 lead. Cal Poly shot just 26 percent from the floor and went to the line four times while CSUB shot 32 percent from the floor, but went to the line 15 times and converted 11. The Mustangs were 0-for-11 from long range in the half, but committed just three first half turnovers. The first half saw five lead changes with CSUB holding its biggest lead, seven, when Donavan Bragg hit a three with nine seconds left in the half.