GAME NOTES: The Cal Poly Mustangs begin a brief two-game road trip on Saturday night as they go up against the Fresno State Bulldogs in non-conference action.

The Mustangs, who will pay a visit to San Francisco on Monday night as well, have been roughed up by the last two Division I programs from the Golden State, losing to both California and Saint Mary's by no less than 20 points in late November.

More recently Cal Poly bounced back with a 72-35 romp over Menlo College, an opponent that competes at the NAIA level in Atherton, California. With the victory the Mustangs returned to .500 after six outings.

As for the Bulldogs, they began 2014-15 with just a single win through the first seven contests, that being a 93-55 thumping of Bristol University. It wasn't until just last week that FSU broke through against a DI opponent, UC Irvine, by a score of 72-63. That was followed with a close call against Cal State Bakersfield (63-61) but then a 73-56 loss at Texas Tech on Wednesday night.

In a series that dates back to just after World War II's conclusion, the Bulldogs have won 46 of the 64 matchups against Cal Poly. However, only eight games have been played with both programs operating at the Division I level, of which FSU has won seven.

Last season the Bulldogs posted a 63-46 victory at home, marking the team's 15th win in the last 16 encounters. The lone win for the Mustangs during that run took place in 2011 by a score of 65-46.

The meeting with Menlo was pretty much over before it begun as the Mustangs held the visitor to just 28.6 percent shooting from the floor, including 5- of-24 behind the 3-point line. Cal Poly wasn't much more accurate from the field (.394) or beyond the arc (6-of-24), but there was no catching the host. Brian Bennett accounted for 15 points and eight rebounds, converting all seven of his shot attempts, while Joel Awich and Reese Morgan posted 13 and 11 points, respectively.

On a team that is scoring just 62.0 ppg, it makes sense that there are only a pair of double-digit performers through six games for the Mustangs. Leading the way is David Nwaba with 13.4 ppg, shooting a solid 48.8 percent from the field in the five games in which he has appeared. Bennett not only posts 11.5 ppg with his impressive 63.3 percent effort from the floor, but he is also tops with 6.0 rpg, although those numbers do not fully compensate for his mete 46.7 percent effort at the free-throw line.

Fresno State fell behind the Red Raiders right out of the gate and never recovered, although the Bulldogs were down by just three after 20 minutes of action. The second half was much more of a disaster as the visitors made a total of only nine field goals and shot 3-of-12 beyond the arc. Marvelle Harris stepped up to offer 17 points and Karachi Edo 13, but the team hurt itself with 17 turnovers and 56.3 percent accuracy at the free-throw line.

The leading scorer for FSU in four of the last five games, Harris is responsible for 16.5 ppg and is also first on the team with both 5.9 rpg and a total of 32 assists, but clearly he cannot do the job all by himself. Julien Lewis (12.2 ppg), Edo (11.2 ppg) and Paul Watson (10.7 ppg) all contribute significantly to the 63.5 ppg being produced, but that still falls short of the competition at 66.2 ppg.

As long as Harris is active for the Bulldogs and he can get some measure of support, the Bulldogs should be able to pull this game off, but stranger things have happened.