Mustangs get road win at Northern Illinois

In a game that they were out-rebounded by 10, committed 16 turnovers, and had two of their top scorers — Luke Meikle (6) and Josh Martin (0) — combine for just six points, Cal Poly made a second half run and found a way to beat Northern Illinois 68-64.

Great team win vs host Northern Illinois! Big time production from our bench. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

— Pawel Mrozik (@coachmrozik) November 24, 2016

Joseph gets hot

Victor Joseph had his best game yet in a Cal Poly uniform. By Owen Main

Junior transfer Victor Joseph had his finest game as a Mustang. Joseph scored 19 points, knocking down two three-pointers and knifing inside for an array of layups and runners.

While fellow small guard Donovan Fields got some rhythm last weekend at home, Joseph came off the bench to shoot 6-8 from the field.

Zach Attack

Zach Gordon has been a stabilizing influence inside off the bench this season, and Wednesday was no different. Gordon entered the game at the under 16:00 timeout in the first half and promptly took a pair of charges and finished a dunk. He was 1-1 shooting for the game. Gordon also added three blocked-shots in the first half and battled hard with Northern Illinois big man Marin Maric throughout the game.

Zach Gordon has given Cal Poly valuable minutes in the front court this season. By Owen Main

His stat line doesn’t look like much in the box score, but there is a good reason he was on the floor for 27 minutes. Production gets you minutes.

Overall, Cal Poly’s bench scored 31 of the Mustangs’ 68 points. Mustang guards accounted for all but eight of Cal Poly’s scoring output on the night.

Start Fast

Cal Poly’s first half saw them outscore NIU by 10 points. The score was tied within the first few minutes of the second half and, on two occasions, NIU led by 6 points twice in the final half before Cal Poly stormed back to take control.

Streaky

With Cal Poly down by six points and just over eight minutes to play, Ridge Shipley scored seven straight points in about a minute for the Mustangs on three straight possessions to cut the lead to two. Josh Mishler’s right-handed drive on the next possession tied the game at 51.

From there, Joseph scored nine of Cal Poly’s final 17 points en route to victory.

Death Lineup?

Like most of the scoring in this particular game, Cal Poly’s big run came with a sort of death lineup on the floor. With Zach Gordon at the five and 6′ 5″ Josh Mishler at the four, Cal Poly ran Victor Joseph, Jaylen Shead, and Ridge Shipley at three guard positions. Joseph and Shipley were able to get good penetration, while Shead and Mishler battled inside just enough for Cal Poly to not get killed on defensive rebounding.

A three point-guard lineup like this has been intriguing to me all year with the roster as it’s constructed. Look for Cal Poly to use it to make other teams uncomfortable for portions of games and to extend this type of a lineup if it seems to be working well.

Up Next

Cal Poly will take Thanksgiving Day off before battling University of Illinois-Chicago on Friday and Elon on Saturday to conclude the NIU Thanksgiving Classic. Elon beat UIC 91-80 on Wednesday.