On Saturday, Cal looks for a record that stood alone for 56 years. Last Saturday, Cal tied their school record, with 26 consecutive home victories, set under Pete Newell and broken under the first year of Rene Herrerias in 1960. This Saturday, they look to break that record with a victory over Cal Poly.

Cal Poly presents an interesting challenge for the Bears, as they start four guards at 6'2" or shorter, with their tallest starter being a 6'8" forward. Cal's going to have a size advantage with their starting lineup, an automatic mismatch on offense with whoever guards Rabb or Okoroh, but defensively one of the two has to guard a much smaller player. Rabb is better with Okoroh on the floor and vice-versa, but aside from the first few minutes of the game, there might not be too much overlap in their playing time. Cuonzo Martin pointed out some of these difficulties on Tuesday:

“They play with four guards, they spread you out, they can score the ball, they push the ball. One of those games where you have four perimeter guys with two bigs, and you have to be able to guard one of those guys. I think it’s great for Ivan and King to guard smaller guys, we do some in practice, but it’s different in games. So we have to be able to contain the dribble, they penetrate and pitch and spread you out. We have to do a great job on transition defense. I think that’s one of the biggest things we have to contain and prove, it’s our transition on the defensive side of the ball. Again a great opportunity against a team that pushes the ball with four guards.”

Starters For Cal Poly

G Donovan Fields (So.) 5'10" 9.5 ppg, 88% FT

G Jaylen Shead (So.) 6'1" 8.0 ppg, 5.2 apg, 4.4 rpg

G Ridge Shipley (Sr.) 6'0" 7.1 ppg, 3.2 apg, 1.1 spg

G Kyle Toth (Sr.) 6'2" 11.6 ppg, 54.5% 3pt% has committed 1 TO in 27 minutes per game

F Zach Gordon (Sr.) 6'8" 2.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Sixth Man

G Victor Joseph (Jr.) 6'0" 11.7 ppg, 45% 3PT

Other Key Contributors

F Luke Meikle (Jr.) 6'9" 8.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Cal Poly has been limited in the front court due to injury to forward Josh Martin, an explosive transfer from Minnesota who added depth in the front court for the Mustangs. They've gone to the four guard lineup because of this, shooting a number of threes (44.5% of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc), and forcing teams to keep a close watch on their perimeter players.

In particular, Kyle Toth and Victor Joseph have been impressive. Toth is a solid catch and shoot guy, making over half his threes and turning the ball over only once this season . Joseph has been the scoring sixth man that you don't really see on college teams, leading the team in scoring and shooting very well from beyond the arc. Cal has to contain their penetration as well as closing on the shooters quick when they pass out.

The weakness of this team comes on defense, where the Mustangs don't entirely have the size to keep up with bigger teams on the interior, with teams shooting a sterling 52% inside the three point line against them, almost 12% higher than what Cal is allowing now. Gordon and Meikle are solid players, but look to be overmatched against a bigger Cal frontline. Having Martin around would have made this a more interesting game.

Pressing the Advantage

As said earlier, one of Rabb or Okoroh is going to have a size mismatch on the inside, and they're going to get doubled. Either one is going to have to pass out of the double team, whether it be to the other big, or on a kickout for a three. Taking advantage of those outside shooting opportunities speaks to something Grant Mullins said on Tuesday:

“I think it just helps with our inside presence. Now, other teams must be a little bit more hesitant to go and double, because they know we can hit from outside. Having Bird back, who’s a knockdown shooter, that makes a huge difference for us.”

Making Cal Poly think before doubling should be enough to get Ivan going, as he looks to return to form after his hand injury. His hand looked fine in practice, he made a couple of left handed hook shots, so he should be ok going into Saturday.

Running them off the perimeter

Cal Poly likes to drive and kick. They're willing to take their time, but the end goal is to get an open 3 point shot. Cal will go small at points to keep up (small being a relative term with Roger Moute a Bidias and Stephen Domingo playing the 4 spot at 6'6"), but they should have enough length to make every shot difficult. Cal has improved on running teams off the three point line, and this will be a test to that.

Finish tweaking a few things on offense

This game may be one of the first times Cal's had every one of their key players healthy, besides the loss of Kam Rooks for a few more weeks, so the Bears have a few more tools in their offensive arsenal to work with. In particular, expect to see more curling off of screens from more than just Bird, Moore and Mullins have the ability to make plays off the curl. The focus on a hard cut to the basket by the bigs will be important as well.

Injury Report

Rabb (hand)- better than last week

Bird (back) - his conditioning is better, won't be taken out early

Rooks (knee) - Still out, set to start sprinting next week

This matchup kicks off at 5 PM Saturday on the Pac-12 Network