The Cal Poly Mustangs and the Denver Pioneers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Hamilton Gymnasium. Cal Poly is 1-0 on the young season after an opener victory versus La Verne. As for Denver, they took a loss to UC San Diego in their first game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Cal Poly Mustangs

The Mustangs had a pretty abysmal season (again) in 2022-23, going just 8-25 overall and 1-18 in Big West Conference games. Needless to say, Cal Poly finished in last place with that result, three games behind CSU Northridge. The good news is that the Mustangs beat Long Beach State in the conference tournament before falling to UC Santa Barbara. 

Cal Poly got off to a good start versus La Verne in their first game of the season. The Mustangs scored 47 points in the first half and 33 more in the second for an 80-62 win. Leading the scoring was Joel Armotrading with 21 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and two assists. Kobe Sanders also finished in double-digits with 16 points and six boards. 

Denver Pioneers 

Over on the Denver side, they were able to improve a bit last year with a 15-17 overall run and a 6-12 stretch in the Summit League. The Pioneers landed just two spots out of the basement (ahead of North Dakota and Omaha), losing seven of their final 10 games before a conference tournament defeat at the hands of North Dakota. 

The Pioneers had a tricky road matchup versus UC San Diego in their opener. Denver led at halftime 41-40 but faded in the second for a 95-87 defeat. Touko Tainamo had a great evening with 31 points and 18 rebounds though, and Tommy Bruner chipped in 23 points with three assists. DeAndre Craig came off the bench to score 11 points as well. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably lean toward Cal Poly in this one, but you could argue it either way. The Mustangs didn’t have a ton of issues in what was essentially a warmup game on Monday versus La Verne. Cal Poly shot 46.4 percent from the field with 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from 3-point range in the win. That said, the Mustangs put up a sketchy 71.9 percent from the line and had a very mild 47-44 rebounding edge. They’ll see an uptick in competition in their first road matchup here, so Cal Poly will have to hit the boards a little harder. If they play to their capabilities however, I think the Mustangs can power out a cover at least.