UCR Men's Basketball Hosts UC Santa Barbara Thursday At 7 pm

Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Men’s Basketball Team has won four of its last five games, including a two-game weekend road sweep of UC Davis and Pacific, that has the Highlanders in fourth place in the Big West heading into this week’s action. UCR’s 2-1 conference mark ties its best-ever three-game start in Big West play.

The Highlanders will be tested again this week as they host UC Santa Barbara (7-5, 2-0). The Gauchos were picked second in the league this season, and they have played one of the toughest schedules in the conference squaring off against the likes of San Diego St., Cal, BYU, Washington and UNLV.

UCSB’s conference wins are against Cal Poly (58-57) and Cal State Fullerton (77-64). Orlando Johnson is the Gauchos leading scorer as well as the top scorer in the Big West at 20.4 points per game. James Nunnally is second on the squad and fourth in the conference at 16.5 per game. The duo are a big reason why UC Santa Barbara ranks second in the Big West in scoring at 74.7 per contest.

The Highlanders counter with one of the stingiest defenses in the conference holding opponents to 62.5 points per game on the season and 40.3 percent shooting from the field.

Phil Martin is coming off of a conference player of the week performance where he averaged 25.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting. He ranks second in the conference behind Johnson with a 16.9 points per game scoring average. Kareem Nitoto is also averages double figures for UCR at 10.3 per game.

A win over the Gauchos would give UC Riverside three wins in its first four conference games for the first time since making the transition to Division I prior to the 2001-02 season.

The Highlanders are just 5-24 all-time against the Gauchos and have dropped five straight since a 71-69 victory on J anuary 4, 2009. The Highlanders haven’t reached the 60-point plateau against UCSB in the five games since, but all five UCR victories have come on their home floor.

UCR Men's Basketball Hosts UC Santa Barbara Thursday At 7 pm

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