Cal Poly Men’s Basketball dominated Cal Tech in their opening exhibition game 110-53 on Oct. 25 at Mott Athletics Center.
Last season, the Mustangs lost their opening exhibition game to Division II Cal State LA 59-44. This year, it took them 17 minutes to score more points than they did against the Eagles.
The exhibition game will not count toward either team’s stats or records.
Cal Poly’s 53 first-half points were more than they scored in 4 full-length Big West contests last year.
The offense scored early and often for the Mustangs, who stayed out in transition all game.
“If we stick to our defensive principles, that helps us get out and run,” graduate point guard Jarred Hyder said. “That is a big emphasis for us.”
In the first half, every point was scored either in the paint, from behind the arc or from the free throw line.
This was in line with what head coach Mike DeGeorge said his offense was aiming for: drive in for layups and dunks and then kick it out to shooters once they collapse.
Four Mustangs ended up with double-digit points, and the team generated 16 steals on the defensive end.
“We just really wanted them to stay disciplined in what was specific to our system that we’ve been asking of them,” DeGeorge said. “They did some nice things but it didn’t look like our system as much as we would like it to, in general it was a good team effort.”
The Mustangs open their season away from home against the University of San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at The Sobrato Center.