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Mustangs Outdistanced at USC in Monday Season Opener
11/3/2025 9:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Freshman forward Ali Assran led four Mustangs in double-digit scoring figures with 13 points during his collegiate debut Monday evening, but the Cal Poly men’s basketball program – conceding 57 second-half points to USC – dropped its 2025-26 season opener inside the Galen Center, 94-64.
Sophomore guards Peter Bandelj and Hamad Mousa (above) both finished with 12 points for Cal Poly, which trailed USC by six at the break. During the first meeting between the two programs in 10 seasons, the Trojans shot 50.0 (18-for-36) percent during the second half to pull away.
Sophomore guard Cayden Ward added 11 points for Cal Poly with Assran also contributing a team best eight rebounds.
Cal Poly next returns home to host Division III Pacific Lutheran on Wednesday, Nov. 5. Tip time inside Mott Athletics Center is 7 p.m.
Despite holding USC to a 1-for-6 shooting start, Cal Poly trailed after six minutes, 13-2. A three-pointer from sophomore guard Guzman Vasilic and successive Bandelj layups, however, helped Cal Poly cut the gap to 16-9 with 12 minutes remaining in the half.
15:40 (First Half) | Cayden Ward gets Cal Poly's season started in a big way!
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) November 4, 2025
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The Mustangs though trailed by as much as 30-19 with six minutes left before three-pointers from freshman guard Troy Plumtree and Mousa dropped Cal Poly’s deficit to seven. Junior guard Jake Davis followed with a jumper – his first Division I points following an offseason transfer from West Valley College – before adding a layup at the buzzer as Cal Poly departed the first half down, 37-31.
The Trojans, however, produced the first three buckets of the ensuing period and twice extended their advantage to 15 points early in the second half.
Assran scored on Cal Poly’s next three possessions as the Mustangs clawed to a 52-40 deficit with 14-and-a-half minutes to play, but the visitors failed to crack the double-digit barrier down the stretch.
HALFTIME | Jake Davis with the buzzer-bearer for Cal Poly at USC! Mustangs trail at the break, 37-31.
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) November 4, 2025
??B1G+#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/I5g6SknAZ5
