{"id":2228,"date":"2025-01-04T08:47:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T18:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/?p=2228"},"modified":"2025-01-04T08:47:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T18:47:48","slug":"warriors-hope-to-slow-cal-poly-slo-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/warriors-hope-to-slow-cal-poly-slo-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors hope to slow Cal Poly SLO at home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hawai’i center Tanner Christensen scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed five rebounds Thursday night in a 64-61 loss to UC Santa Barbara. (Brandon Flores Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the past, opposing men’s basketball fans might have thought the “SLO” after Cal Poly referred to the Mustangs’ style of play, instead of their campus location (San Luis Obispo).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is now: Under a new coaching staff, Cal Poly — believe it or not — is known for an up-tempo, high-scoring full-court attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawai’i and its fans will get an up-close look at the total makeover when the Mustangs face off with the Warriors in a Big West Conference showdown at 7 p.m. Saturday in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game will be televised live statewide on Spectrum Sports Channel 12 and broadcast live on radio via ESPN Honolulu 1420AM. Both teams are hungry for a victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UH (8-5 overall, 0-2 Big West) is coming off a tense 64-61 home loss to UC Santa Barbara, while Cal Poly (6-9, 0-3) is also coming off a heartbreaking home loss, 98-89 in overtime against UC Irvine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Price, Jr., a 6-foot-8 junior forward, led the Mustangs with 16 points and eight rebounds, Jarred Hyder (6-3, guard) added 15 points and six boards, and wing Owen Koonce (6-5) contributed 13 points and six rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They play up-tempo, but they can play inside-out, their guards get into the paint, their ‘5’s and their ‘4’s will shoot the ball,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “It’s a heckuva challenge, it will really challenge our discipline and our prep. But this is what we live for, this is gonna be the way it is, this what we’re going to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Tough (quick) turnarounds, different styles, well-coached teams.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Hawai’i, the internal challenge will be avoiding critical lapses that lead to scoring droughts resulting in big runs by the opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against UC Santa Barbara, such a combination led to a 38-36 lead turning into a 51-38 deficit which the Warriors could never completely overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Obviously we gotta work on our transition defense and getting back and stopping their attack,” said UH center Tanner Christensen, who scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds against UCSB. “If they’re running like that, we can take advantage with our bigger size and them playing five-out. Limiting their transition attacks has gotta be key, getting back and building a wall.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ganot said he expects Cal Poly to push the tempo, probably more than any opponent so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think we’ve played some fast teams this year, and they are the fastest,” Ganot said. “And they also spread you … not so much small, but similar-sized guys who can dribble, pass, shoot and make good decisions, get in the paint. It’s been a challenge for everybody — they won at Stanford . Their record would be even better if they didn’t have a two or three-week period missing some key guys, and now they’re fully healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You saw what they did with Irvine (Thursday). It’s a very improved program, well-coached. It’s gonna be a great challenge in a quick turnaround for us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past, opposing men’s basketball fans might have thought the “SLO” after Cal Poly referred to the Mustangs’ style of play, instead of their campus location (San Luis Obispo). That was then. This is now: Under a new coaching staff, Cal Poly — believe it or not — is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2239,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions\/2239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}