Cal Poly rides big first to half to road win over Utah

Cal Poly rides big first to half to road win over Utah

Field Level Media
21 Nov 2025, 10:25 GMT+

(Photo credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images)

Cayden Ward scored 28 points to lead Cal Poly to a 92-85 win over Utah on Thursday in Salt Lake City.

Hamad Mousa added 26 points, Guzman Vasilic scored 13 points and Peter Bandelj tallied 11 points for Cal Poly (3-3).

Terrence Brown led Utah (5-1) with a game-high 29 points. Don McHenry added 16 points and Keanu Dawes notched 10 for the Utes.

After Mousa missed the previous Cal Poly game with a reported ankle injury, he had a perfect first half, making 6 of 6 field-goal attempts, including all three of his 3-point attempts.

The Mustangs shot 52% (9 of 17) from 3-point range in the opening half. From inside the arc they were just as effective (8 of 14). Conversely, Utah made just 4 of 13 baskets from 3-point range in the opening half.

Utah opened the game on a 5-0 run but Mousa answered with five of the next seven points to kick off a 7-0 Cal Poly run. A McHenry jumper tied the game at 7-7 but Bandelj and Vasilic hit back-to-back threes and the Mustangs took a lead they held for the rest of the game.

A Vasilic 3-pointer extended the Cal Poly lead to 48-33 with 2:49 to play in the first half. The Utes hung tough as a Brown dunk punctuated a 6-0 run to cut the Mustangs lead to 48-39.

But an Ali Assran dunk with 10 seconds to go gave the Mustangs a 50-39 halftime lead. It was the highest scoring first half of the season for Cal Poly.

Transition play helped the Utes trim the Cal Poly lead to 55-48 as they rallied with a 7-0 scoring spurt that Brown capped with a fast-break layup early in the second half.

A Brown layup pulled Utah within 76-74 with 5:57 to play but the Mustangs followed with a 12-2 outburst for an 88-76 on a pair of Ward free throws with two minutes left to put the game out of reach.

--Field Level Media

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