For the first time this season, the Hawai’i men’s basketball team is on a losing streak. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was the spoiler Thursday night, blitzing past the Warriors, 86-75, for a resounding Big West Conference road victory.
A stunned-to-silence crowd of 2,535 in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hamad Mousa score a game-high 24 points with nine rebounds and Cayden Ward add 19 points and six boards as the Mustangs improved to 12-16 overall and 8-8 in league play with their third straight win. Dre Bullock scored 22 points with nine rebounds and Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson added 18 points and eight boards for UH, which fell to 18-7, 10-5, after losing back-to-back games for the first time in 2025-26.
Cal Poly, in the second year of a high-octane system implemented by head coach Mike DeGeorge, jumped to a shocking 15-2 lead in the first four minutes and held off a Warriors challenge early in the second half. Hawai’i had been coming off a 84-60 road loss at Cal State Northridge.
“A lot of credit to Cal Poly, they showed why they were playing with a lot of momentum coming in and kept that going, they obviously set the tone today,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “I’m disappointed in our slippage … we gotta own it, attack it and respond. We’re in it (the Big West race), very much in it. There’s been adversity off the court, with the injured guys, and the adversity on the court is … we’re struggling. You grow from pain, but only if you attack it and own it.”
After the Mustangs stretched the lead to 22-7 seven minutes into the game, UH clawed its way back and eventually tied it at 52-52 with a 7-0 run capped by Bullock’s layup with 13:27 remaining in the second half.
But just as quickly, Cal Poly grabbed the momentum back with Ward’s tie-breaking 3-pointer at the 12:05 mark to ignite a 9-0 culminating in Troy Plumtree’s fast break dunk to make it 61-52 just over two minutes later.
The Warriors got as close as 64-62 after two free throws by Yacine Toumi with 6:30 left, but the Mustangs again shut the door — this time for good — with a 14-3 run capped by Peter Bandelj”s free throws to make it 78-65 with 3:24 showing on the clock. Hawai’i could not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The Warriors’ homestand continues Saturday with a nationally televised (ESPNU) game against UC Santa Barbara at 5 p.m.
At halftime, former standout guard Anthony “AC” Carter will have his No. 23 jersey officially retired. Fans are asked to wear white, as the game is being promoted as a “White Out.”