Cal Poly faces CSU Bakersfield after Ward’s 20-point showing

Cal Poly Mustangs (7-14, 3-6 Big West) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (8-13, 2-7 Big West)

Bakersfield, California; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Cal Poly visits CSU Bakersfield after Cayden Ward scored 20 points in Cal Poly’s 93-78 loss to the CSU Fullerton Titans.

The Roadrunners are 6-5 on their home court. CSU Bakersfield ranks second in the Big West with 10.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Pierre Geneste Jr. averaging 2.4.

The Mustangs have gone 3-6 against Big West opponents. Cal Poly has a 6-9 record against teams over .500.

CSU Bakersfield is shooting 41.5% from the field this season, 5.0 percentage points lower than the 46.5% Cal Poly allows to opponents. Cal Poly’s 42.2% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.3 percentage points lower than CSU Bakersfield has allowed to its opponents (45.5%).

The Roadrunners and Mustangs meet Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: CJ Hardy is averaging 13.7 points for the Roadrunners. Jaden Alexander is averaging 13.9 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 50.5% over the last 10 games.

Hamad Mousa is shooting 38.4% from beyond the arc with 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Mustangs, while averaging 20.7 points and 6.2 rebounds. Ward is shooting 41.7% and averaging 15.4 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Roadrunners: 4-6, averaging 72.5 points, 31.4 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 41.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.2 points per game.

Mustangs: 2-8, averaging 76.5 points, 31.7 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 5.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 40.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.