Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team hosts UC Santa Barbara this Thursday as part of a Women's/Men's double header at the SRC Arena. The Women's Team takes on Long Beach State beginning at 5 pm PT, while the Men tangle with the Gauchos at 8 pm.
The Highlanders are looking to snap a three-game losing streak and climb back into the upper division of the Big West standings. UCR is 13-14 overall, including 4-7 in conference, which puts them in a tie for sixth place with CSUN, one game back of UC Davis, and a game and a half behind UC Santa Barbara.
| Big West | Overall |
| Team | W | L | Pct | W | L | Pct |
| Hawai'i | 9 | 1 | .900 | 20 | 3 | .870 |
| UC Irvine | 8 | 2 | .800 | 19 | 7 | .731 |
| Long Beach State | 8 | 3 | .727 | 14 | 12 | .539 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 5 | 5 | .500 | 11 | 12 | .478 |
| UC Davis | 5 | 6 | .455 | 10 | 14 | .417 |
| UC Riverside | 4 | 7 | .364 | 13 | 14 | .482 |
| CSUN | 4 | 7 | .364 | 9 | 16 | .360 |
| Cal Poly | 3 | 8 | .273 | 9 | 15 | .375 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 2 | 9 | .182 | 9 | 15 | .375 |
Taylor Johns recorded his fifth double-double of the season on Saturday with a 25-point, 10-rebound effort against Cal Poly, but it wasn't enough as the Highlanders dropped an 86-78 decision to the Mustangs (
box score/
recap). Johns is averaging 20.5 points per game over his last six games, and making 58.8 percent of his shots from the floor over his last seven.
Jaylen Bland is just shy of the program records for made three pointers in a season and a career, needing four and two respectively to best Maurice Pullum's '89 marks of 100 and 193. He has struggled a bit over his last two contests making four of 20 shots from the field including four for 16 from long distance.
UC Santa Barbara enters the week on a two-game winning streak having just handed UC Davis its first home conference loss in nearly two years, 72-66, That victory pulled the Gauchos back to the .500 mark in conference for just the second time all season.
UCSB is led by the leading scorer in the Big West, Michael Bryson, who is averaging 19.2 points per game while making 47.6 percent of his shots from the field and 35.1 percent from beyond the arc. Gabe Vincent (13.6 ppg) and John Green (10.7) are also averaging double figures for the Gauchos, who also boast the top shooter (Sam Beeler, 74.0 percent) and the top three-point shooter (Eric Childress, 52.0 percent) in the conference.
The Highlanders are 8-29 all-time against UC Santa Barbara (
view results) including an 8-8 record at home. Bland and Johns each scored 21 points in UCR's 64-62 victory at the SRC Arena last season (
box score/
recap).
