Long Beach State at Cal Poly (-1) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #739-740
Cal Poly made big strides last season to finish fourth in the conference standings and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament before falling to eventual champion Pacific. With six of their top seven returning many considered this team to be a dark horse in the Big West. Their non-conference schedule had a lot of ups and downs, but they did notch impressive double digit home wins over St. Mary's and Northern Arizona. They have started conference play with 5 of 7 games away from home but have still managed a respectable 3-4 record. Only UCSB has more league road wins than the Mustangs. Cal Poly is 10-1 at home this season with only loss coming vs league favorite Cal State Fullerton in what was a close game late. They have played well recently and currently are on a 5-1 SU & ATS run with outright road wins at UCSB and CSUN included. They have had to play the last two games without the services of starting center Titus Shelton (ankle) but he is expected to return to action tonight. This will be Poly's first home game since January 16th and they will be fired up for it.

Long Beach got good news on Wednesday when it was learned that starting guard KeJuan Johnson and key inside reserve Mark Dawson would have their suspensions lifted. The bad news is that both will have to miss one more game, their third straight, tonight vs Cal Poly. Johnson is second in scoring, second in assists, first in steals, and is arguably the best all around player on the team. Dawson is the only rotation player taller than 6'6 and leads the team in blocked shots. The team played well in two games at home without them, but their absence leaves a clear drop-off in talent and depth, and a letdown game here may be in the works. Long Beach has been extremely fortunate to play six of their first eight conference games at home. Meanwhile they have struggled away from home going 0-2 SU and ATS in their only two Big West road games, both of which were no more than an hour away from campus. Tonight they must take a six hour trip to Cal Poly and play on the road shorthanded. Cal Poly gave LBS a tough game in the first meeting losing by just 7 and this is a great spot for them to turn the tables in rematch. Give the small number.

RAS Official Play: Cal Poly -1 1 UNIT


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