Cal breaks game open in second half, beats Cal Poly 91-73

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 18 points, Andrej Stojakovic added 15 and California erased Cal Poly’s early double-digit lead, going on to a 91-73 victory on Tuesday night.

Blacksher hit four 3-pointers and the Golden Bears went 11 of 26 from the arc in improving to 2-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season they opened with four wins.

Rytis Petraitis scored 13 points off the bench and BJ Omot had 10. Lee Dort grabbed 11 rebounds to go with eight points.

Issac Jessup hit 5 of 9 3-point attempts and finished with 20 points to lead Cal Poly before fouling out. Owen Koonce added 11 points. The Mustangs made 10 of 26 3-point tries but gave up 18 turnovers, leading to 29 Cal points.

Leading by four at halftime, Cal opened the second half three consecutive 3-pointers — two from Omot — for a double-digit lead. The margin was 14 before Cal’s bench provided all the points in an 11-0 run midway through the half. The Mustangs got within 12 with four minutes left but no closer.

The Mustangs hit five 3-pointers — two each from Jessup and Jarred Hyder — in the first six minutes of the game in taking a 12-point lead. Cal responded with 3s by Blacksher and Christian Tucker and eventually took the lead during a 13-2 run that included three consecutive 3s. The Bears led by as many as nine before going in the half ahead 39-35.

Cal Poly (0-2) lost its final 20 games last season and entered this season with a new coach in Mike McGeorge, who came over from Division II Colorado Mesa. He brought four players with him including Jessup, all of whom started Tuesday along with Hyder, who was at Cal for three seasons (2020-23).

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