Men's Basketball Travels Up Coast For Road Games At UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly

February 20	7 pm PT	at UC Santa Barbara	Fox Sports 1350 AM	Big West TV	Listen Live	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets
February 22	7 pm PT	at Cal Poly	Fox Sports 1350 AM	Big West TV	Listen Live	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets
					Game Notes

Santa Barbara, CA—With three weeks remaining in the regular season, the battle for Big West Tournament seeding is heating up, and the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team (3-8) finds itself one half game behind Cal State Fullerton (3-7) and UC Davis (3-7) for the seven and eight seeds. Only the top eight teams in the conference make the tournament, scheduled for March 13-15 at Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

Next up for the Highlanders is a two-game road trip up the coast to take on UC Santa Babara on Thursday, February 20 and Cal Poly on Saturday, February 22. Both games tip off at 7 pm PT.

A win over UC Santa Barbara would not only improve UC Riverside's postseason chances, but it would be the first in the history of the program at the Thunderdome. The Highlanders are 0-18 all-time in Santa Barbara (view all-time series results), including a 56-46 loss to the Gauchos last season (box score/recap).

UCR has lost three straight games heading into the weekend, including a 70-52 loss at UC Irvine on Saturday (box score/recap).

UC Santa Barbara won four straight games to move into a tie with UC Irvine atop the league standings, but dropped an 80-78 overtime decision to Cal State Northridge on Saturday to fall a game behind the Anteaters. The Gauchos' Alan Williams has the inside track on Big West Player of the Year honors this season as his 22.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game both lead the conference by a considerable margin.

As a team, UCSB makes 47.0 percent of its field goal attempts and 37.5 percent from three-point range. They also turn the ball over the second fewest time in the conference at 11.4 per game, and hold opponents to just 39.9 percent shooting from the floor.

Cal Poly has lost five of its last six conference games—a streak that began with a 61-58 loss at UC Riverside on January 25 (box score/recap). Their lone win in that span came at Cal State Northridge last Thursday. The Mustangs host Cal State Fullerton this Thursday before welcoming the Highlanders to Mott Gym.

The 'Stangs boast one of the best defenses in the Big West as they hold opponents to 43.0 percent shooting and 32.5 percent from beyond the arc. Their offense has been a different story as their 41.7 percent shooting percentage is last in the conference. The Mustangs do an excellent job of protecting the ball, however, as their league-low 9.4 turnovers per game can attest.

The Highlanders are 44-45 all-time against Cal Poly (view all-time results). Prior to UC Riverside's win this season, the Mustangs had won four straight in the series.

Men's Basketball Travels Up Coast For Road Games At UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly

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