GAME NOTES: The Cal Poly Mustangs find themselves in the Lawlor Events Center on Saturday, as they challenge the Nevada Wolf Pack in the 2014-15 season opener for both programs.

Cal Poly is the defending Big West Conference Tournament champion, even though the team finished with an overall record of just 14-20 and was seventh in the conference standings at 6-10. The Mustangs, coached by Joe Callero, took down UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge during the conference tournament in order to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In the Big Dance, the Mustangs defeated Texas Southern in the First Four to earn the program's first postseason victory in 32 years, before being blasted by Wichita State, 64-37.

As for the Pack, led by coach David Carter, they are coming off a season in which they finished two games below .500 (15-17), but were still a worthy adversary in Mountain West Conference action at 10-8. Picked to finish in the bottom half of the MWC this season, Nevada is hoping to do better than falling out of the conference tournament in the first round, as was the case last season when the team suffered a 75-62 setback versus Boise State.

While it was a close call, Nevada squeezed out a 60-58 victory over the Mustangs last season, giving the Pack a slim 6-5 advantage in the all-time series. Cal Poly has not defeated the Wolf Pack since posting a 71-70 decision at home back in 2000.

The Cal Poly roster boasts four seniors that the rest of the team will look to for leadership, but from a production standpoint, none of them has yet to do much of anything really which means now is the time for Maliik Love, Anthony Silvestri, Michael Bolden and transfer Alberto Ganis to show their worth.

The top talent that has already proven himself for the Mustangs is Dave Nwaba, returning after putting up 11.7 ppg and clearing 4.8 rpg. Compensating for the loss of Chris Eversley (13.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg) will not be easy, but Nwaba has the potential to fill some of the void. Brian Bennett, a part-time starter last season, should also be producing more than his 6.1 ppg and 3.1 rpg, but it remains to be seen how well this squad performs after producing just 63.0 ppg a season ago.

Deonte Burton (20.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 142 assists) is no longer with the Wolf Pack, neither are Cole Huff (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) or Jerry Evans Jr. (12.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg), which means Nevada is having to fill some major holes both in scoring and on the glass. Now a senior, guard Michael Perez is a transfer from UTEP who played in all 32 Nevada games after becoming eligible. He is the top returning scorer with 11.5 ppg to his credit, although he shot a mere 38.3 percent from the field.

Junior center AJ West, who might be a bit undersized at just 6-foot-9, started 19 of the final 21 games for Nevada a season ago, and while he managed to score in double figures a total of seven times, he ended up with an average of only 6.8 ppg. Marqueze Coleman (6.0 ppg) played less than 18 minutes per game and was a reserve in all but two appearances, so his development will be encouraged for sure.

Both of these teams are in rebuilding mode right now, given how much talent each has lost since last season. The key for the Mustangs will be to slow the pace and keep scoring to a minimum, which might not be that difficult seeing as how Nevada can't be sure where points will come from this season.