Cal Poly wins Maui Jim Maui Regional in Colorado

Cal Poly went two for two in Colorado. In the regional round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, the Mustangs beat Austin Peay and UMBC in consecutive days to win the four-team regional.

We are champs!! Picked up two big wins in two days!! Great job fellas!! #mustangway

A photo posted by Cal Poly Men's Basketball (@calpolymbb) on Nov 22, 2015 at 1:54pm PST

A for Awich

Joel Awich led the Mustangs in both games, averaging 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds over the two games en route to the earning the weekend’s MVP. Awich has always been hyper-athletic and has had the touch to shoot from the outside. This weekend, Awich went 7-11 from behind the 3-point line.

Awich is now leading the Mustangs in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.8 points and 6 rebounds per contest. If the Mustangs can get this kind of consistent scoring from both David Nwaba (13.4 ppg so far this season) and Awich, Cal Poly could have two scorers around 15 points per game in the first time in I don’t even remember how long.

Shooter’s touch

Cal Poly is putting up shots this year. When they have open 3-pointers, they are taking them. Here is a twitter conversation I had with former Mustang News editor Brian de los Santos toward the middle of the UCLA game last Sunday:

I respect Brian’s opinions on sports, but I think I had a point. So far this year, Cal Poly is shooting 38 percent from behind the arc while attempting almost 25 per game. Compare that to last season, when the Mustangs shot just 31 percent and only attempted 18.3 shots from long range per game. Not only is Cal Poly more efficient, but they use this more-efficient part of their offensive game more often. Last year, Cal Poly made 5.6 three-pointers per game. So far this year, they are making almost 10 per game.

It’s not like it’s a fluke, either. The Mustangs have shooters. Reese Morgan and Taylor Sutlive are super high-percentage shooters. Jaylen Shead has been good in limited games so far. Ridge Shipley can get as hot as anyone, and big-men Joel Awich and Luke Meikle are good enough to make other big men play them outside.

70 is a magic number?

Last year, Cal Poly scored 70 just seven times all season. They won six of those games, which also represented nearly half of their wins all season This year, they have scored 70-plus in each of their first five games, during which they are 3-2. It’s a small sample size, and I don’t know how or whether it will impact a season once Big West play starts, but I do know that Joe Callero’s teams have always been able to dictate pace.

This year they said they were going to play faster, and they absolutely are. The faster pace is a real thing you guys.

Upcoming schedule

Cal Poly’s big non-conference homestand is coming up next week. On Saturday night (11/28), they host the University of Antelope Valley, followed by IPFW on Thursday (12/3) and Fresno State the next Saturday (12/5). After these three games, the Mustangs will hit the road for the rest of 2015 before kicking-off the Big West home season January 14th against UCSB.