ANAHEIM 7 For most of the 2003-04 season, the Cal Poly men/s basketball team has had problems with its offense in the second half of Big West Conference games.

It was fitting, then, that the Mustangs/ production fell off in the second half of their opening-round game at the Big West Conference Tournament against UC Riverside.

Thanks to a concerted defensive effort by the Highlanders, UC Riverside avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Mustangs in a 72-63 victory at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday night.

"Cal Poly had just owned us 7 OWNED US 7 the last two games offensively," Riverside coach John Masi said. "I looked on their website, and it said that they hadn/t shot under 50 percent against us in a half this year. So to play like we did tonight was incredible."

The Highlanders (11-16) took care of that by holding the Mustangs (11-16) under 50 percent in both halves, including a 37.5-percent (12-for-32) mark in the second half, where UC Riverside took control of the game. The defense led the way, holding Varnie Dennis 7 the Big West scoring leader at 18.4 points per game coming in 7 to a team-high 14 points, while Shane Schilling (16.4 ppg) only had 13 and Kameron Gray (13.3 ppg) a mere seven points.

Gray had a quick answer when asked afterward on why the Mustangs were having problems offensively.

"They were scoring," the sophomore guard said, referring to UC Riverside. "When teams don/t score on possessions, we usually get up and go. They were scoring every time down court, so we really couldn/t (counter-attack) them and run like we like to."

Another area where the Highlanders took control was in the middle, thanks to center Vili Morton. The 6-foot-8 junior scored 16 points and added 14 rebounds while facing off with Dennis; the attack on the middle netted huge gains for the Highlanders, with them going 21 of 32 from the line 7 including a 19-for-27 mark in the second half 7 to Cal Poly/s 10-for-14 mark from the line.

"Our plan going in was to establish something strong in the post," Morton said. "Stuff like driving the lane, setting up strong down low. It wasn/t working much at first, but coach (Masi) told us to keep at it. It turned out well."

Mustang coach Kevin Bromley saw that as a big factor in Wednesday/s tournament opener.

"They did a good job of keeping (Dennis) out of his sweet spot," the fourth-year coach said. "He likes to get those two-handed catches down there and go to his right, and they did a good job of not allowing him to set up low."

The two teams have been known for playing close games against each other this season: Cal Poly won their first meeting at Mott Gym 84-70 on Jan. 31; the Mustangs scored their only road BWC victory in the return match at Riverside on Feb. 26, a 97-95 overtime victory.

In the third meeting, it was the aggressiveness of the Highlanders that swayed things, with a little help from the Mustangs. Cal Poly held short leads for most of the first half, but saw momentum swing late in the half when the Mustangs were called for a bench technical on what Bromley called a "high school mistake": Reserve swingman Tyler McGinn was never entered in the official tournament scorebook, and when the freshman entered the game with five minutes to go, Cal Poly was whistled for the infraction. While Nate Carter only made one of two free throws off the technical, it did start a 12-0 Highlander run that took Riverside from a five-point deficit (25-20) to a seven-point lead (32-25) at the break.

Cal Poly whittled the lead down to two with 12 1/2 minutes to go, but Riverside put the game away by scoring all of their free throws after that point.

"I/ve always felt that the aggressor in a game usually wins, and they shot 18 more free throws than us," Bromley said. "They were more aggressive than us tonight, and they desrved to win."

Nate Carter led the Highlanders with a game-high 19 points, while Rickey Porter had 16 and Ted Bell 13.

Nick Enzweiler was Cal Poly/s other double-figure scorer, finishing with 10 points.

March 11, 2004