Cal Poly is in the midst of a turnaround as it prepares to meet Arizona State on Wednesday in Tempe, Ariz.
The Mustangs won their third consecutive game under first-year coach Mike DeGeorge, improving to 3-2 overall, with their 82-78 win at Eastern Washington on Sunday. Cal Poly already is only one win shy of reaching its 2023-24 win total, when the Mustangs finished 4-28 overall and 0-20 in the Big West.
Seniors Owen Koonce (19 points) and Mac Riniker (15) led the Mustangs in scoring against Eastern Washington.
Koonce and Isaac Jessup, another senior, lead Cal Poly with an average of 14 points a game while Riniker is the top rebounder at 5.8 a game.
“As we continue to build a confidence and figuring out a formula for winning these close games, it just only grows our confidence and makes it more and more comfortable for us to be in those circumstances,” said DeGeorge, who came to Cal Poly after going 141-43 in six seasons at Division II Colorado Mesa.
While DeGeorge is relying on his senior leadership, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley’s lineup features a couple of the most dynamic freshmen in the nation in Joson Sanon and Jayden Quaintance.
Sanon and Quaintance combined for 31 points and 23 rebounds in Sunday’s 81-66 victory over visiting St. Thomas-Minnesota.
Sanon had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Sun Devils (4-1) in a reserve role.
“He looks like he’s got that look,” Hurley said of Sanon. “He’s really confident, playing the way I expect him to play. It’s why we brought him here and why people think he’s an NBA prospect. That’s what he looks like.”
Quaintance finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.
“Besides the points, I loved how he was going after the glass and rebounding for us,” Hurley said of Quaintance. “And then just his normal defense was kind of what I’m used to seeing from him from that end of the floor.”
Arizona State also was led by Ball State transfer Basheer Jihad, who posted 20 points and six rebounds. He averages a team-leading 13 points per game.
–Field Level Media
