Men's Basketball Looks To Break From Pack With Win Saturday At UCSB

Riverside—With five regular season conference games remaining on the docket, the UC Riverside Men’s Basketball Team finds itself in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big West. The Highlanders (11-13, 5-6) next chance to put some space between themselves and the competition comes Saturday night at UC Santa Barbara (12-8, 7-3) beginning at 7:30 pm.

UCR beat the Gauchos earlier in the season, 79-70 in overtime. Phil Martin scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 11 boards in the win as the Highlanders’ defense held UCSB to just 36.4 percent shooting from the floor. Since that win, however, UC Riverside has dropped four of six, and they have never beaten the Gauchos at the Thunderdome.

UC Santa Barbara, meanwhile, is 5-2 since losing to UCR. Orlando Johnson’s 20.0 points per game leads the Gauchos’ offense followed by James Nunnally’s 15.0 per game.

Despite the team’s recent struggles, the Highlanders’ defense continues to be the best in the conference leading the Big West by holding opponents to 39.5 percent shooting from the field overall and 38.3 percent in conference games. UC Riverside has also held 12 of its last 13 opponents to 65 points or fewer in regulation.

Offensively, the Highlanders are averaging just 60.0 points overall and 60.5 in conference. UCR hasn’t scored more than 59 points in the team’s last four games.

Martin continues to pace the UC Riverside offense averaging 21.4 points per game in Big West play, 2.0 points per game better than his nearest competition in Cal State Fullerton’s Kwame Vaughn.

Men's Basketball Looks To Break From Pack With Win Saturday At UCSB

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