Koonce scores 18, Cal Poly knocks off UC Davis 86-76 in Big West Conference Tournament

By AP News Published Mar 13, 2025 01:10 am

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Owen Koonce scored 18 points and No. 7 seed Cal Poly beat sixth-seeded UC Davis 86-76 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament.

Cal Poly (15-18) will play third-seeded UC Riverside on Thursday.

Koonce also added six assists for the Mustangs. Isaac Jessup scored 17 points while shooting 6 for 9, including 4 for 6 from beyond the arc. Jarred Hyder went 6 of 12 from the field (4 for 8 from 3-point range) to finish with 16 points.

Pablo Tamba led the Aggies (15-17) with 25 points. Ty Johnson added 19 points and 11 assists for UC Davis. Leo DeBruhl also put up 11 points and two blocks. The loss was the Aggies’ sixth straight.

Hyder scored 11 points in the first half and Cal Poly went into halftime trailing 47-38. Cal Poly pulled off the victory after a 21-2 second-half run erased a nine-point deficit and gave them the lead at 66-56 with 8:52 left in the half. Jessup scored 11 second-half points.

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

By The Associated Press