MALIBU, Calif. — For more than nine minutes at the start of Friday’s game, UALR sophomore Matt Mouzy ran around and through the Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo defense as he waited for his opportunity. Finally, an offensive rebound gave him a little bit of space.

And just like nearly every three-pointer he attempts in practice, the ball slid over the front of the rim and in. It gave UALR a 15-4 lead and put the Trojans well on the way to a 67-40 victory on Friday in San Luis Obispo.

“It was a blast,” Mouzy said. “It’s always a blast when you win.”

Mouzy, a 6-0 shooting guard, is expected to be in the starting lineup again this afternoon as UALR (1-0 ) takes on Pepperdine (1-0 ) at Firestone Fieldhouse.

“He really just let the game come to him,” said UALR senior forward Shane Edwards, who tied with Mouzy for the team lead with 15 points Friday. “He took good shots and made them. And he can make a bunch of them.”

He also had 2 rebounds 3 assists and 3 steals with 3 turnovers in 33 minutes, which UALR Coach Steve Shields called a “solid performance.”

Mouzy was the first player off the bench in last week’s exhibition victory over Harding. His start and his extended minutes came as a result of the indefinite suspension of junior guard Steven Moore. Mouzy made the most of his opportunity, making 6 of 10 field-goal attempts and 3 of 6 three-pointers.

“Steve is a great player for us, and we’re missing him on the court, but it is an opportunity for me to get out there and log some more minutes and get Coach’s confidence in me,” Mouzy said. “He knows I can shoot, but it’s defense as well.”

As a walk-on, the plan was for Mouzy to redshirt as a freshman. But after making about 15 consecutive three-pointers one day while playing on the scout team in practice, he started getting a few spot minutes. It stayed that way until Feb. 7 when he played eight minutes against Middle Tennessee. He scored a careerhigh 17 points the next game against North Texas and played at least seven minutes in every game the remainder of the season. And down the stretch, he shot 46 percent from the threepoint line.

While he might have surprised some teams last season, Cal Poly had him well scouted. The Mustangs used Lorenzo Keeler to shadow him. Keeler tugged at Mouzy’s jersey, tried to be physical with him and stayed in his face when he touched the ball.

But as UALR’s Brandon Patterson, Edwards and John Fowler were able to get to the basket with consistency, Keeler was forced to start trying to help his teammates play defense.

“That’s nothing new to me. And if he’s guarding me, somebody else can drive past and get a layup,” Mouzy said. “And when they started penetrating, they had no choice but to close. I rode back up for the open shot.”

With 10: 23 left in the first half and UALR leading 12-4 in a defensive struggle, UALR’s Wayne Burton missed a field-goal attempt. Fowler tipped the offensive rebound out to Mouzy, who caught it and quickly nailed the three-pointer.

He also hit his second threepointer, giving the Trojans a 23-10 lead.

“Matt was very patient and let the game come to him tonight, and that’s what he has to continue to do,” Shields said. “We’ve had some stretches in practice where he’s been a little bit impatient and shot the ball too quick at times. I thought he was very solid tonight.”

He wasn’t perfect. He had three turnovers, but he made up for it with hustle. With UALR leading 47-25 in the second half, Mouzy stole the ball from Cal Poly’s Shawn Lewis. Mouzy then scored on a scoop shot from the left block for a 49-25 lead.

And when Cal Poly left him wide open with 11: 35 left, Mouzy’s third three-pointer sent some of the home crowd to the parking lot with the Trojans leading 52-25.

A Mouzy three-pointer put the game away at 52-25 with 11: 35 left.

“Through our practices, I think we have great team chemistry,” Mouzy said. “There were some players tonight who didn’t get as many minutes as they might have liked, but they were still cheering for us. That’s what we need.”