Honolulu, HI—With one more win away from the friendly confines of the SRC Arena this season, the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team will set a program record for road wins during its Big West Conference-era. Standing in the Highlanders way this week, however, are two of the top three teams in the Big West in the form of Hawai'i (Thursday, February 25 at 9 pm PT) and Long Beach State (Saturday, February 27 at 4 pm)
More importantly, the Highlanders need these road wins to climb the conference standings. Entering the week, UCR is the six seed, but the Highlanders trail UC Davis by just a half-game for the five seed. CSUN is also a half game up on UC Riverside, but the Matadors self-imposed a tournament ban on themselves this season, eliminating them from Big West Tournament consideration.
| Big West Standings (through Feb. 23) | Big West | Overall |
| Team | W | L | Pct | W | L | Pct |
| Hawai'i | 11 | 1 | .917 | 22 | 3 | .880 |
| UC Irvine | 9 | 3 | .750 | 20 | 8 | .714 |
| Long Beach State | 9 | 3 | .750 | 15 | 12 | .556 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 7 | 5 | .583 | 13 | 12 | .520 |
| UC Davis | 5 | 8 | .385 | 10 | 16 | .385 |
| CSUN * | 5 | 8 | .385 | 10 | 17 | .370 |
| UC Riverside | 4 | 8 | .333 | 13 | 15 | .464 |
| Cal Poly | 4 | 9 | .308 | 10 | 16 | .385 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 2 | 11 | .154 | 9 | 17 | .346 |
| * CSUN is not eligible for the conference tournament due to self-imposed sanctions |
Secean Johnson posted his second double-double of the season in the Highlanders most recent game—a 65-55 loss to UC Santa Barbara on February 18 (
box score/
recap). His 21-point, 10-rebound effort raised his averages to 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game on the season.
Jaylen Bland became the Highlanders career leader in made three-pointers last Thursday as he drained three shots from long distance against the Gauchos giving him 195 in his nearly two-year UC Riverside career. He also has 100 made threes this season, which is tied for the top mark in Highlanders' history. Maurice Pullum made 100 threes during the 1988-89 campaign, and finished his two-year UCR career with 193 makes. Bland is also the third leading scorer in the Big West at 16.3 points per game, and fourth in the nation in made three-pointers at 3.57 per game.
UC Riverside leads the Big West in free throw percentage in conference games (.755), and ranks fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.343). Defensively, the Highlanders are allowing Big West foes to make 41.1 percent of their shots from three-point range which is the highest figure in the league.
Hawai'i is in first place in the Big West, two games ahead of UC Irvine and Long Beach State. The Rainbow Warriors swept the Anteaters in their season series, but lost to the 49ers in their first meeting of the year. Hawai'i concludes its season at the Beach on March 5. The magic number for the Rainbow Warriors to clinch over Irvine is two, and over LBSU is three.
Hawai'i has won six straight heading into the week, and boasts the top scoring offense in the conference at 75.3 points per game in Big West play. The Rainbow Warriors are second in conference games in field goal percentage (.445), and third in free throw percentage (.710). They also have the second best scoring defense in the league at 65.8 points per game, holding Big West opponents to 40.1 percent shooting from the field and 27.7 percent shooting from three-point range. Hawai'i also has the best rebound margin in the conference at 3.2 boards per game in 12 Big West contests.
Stefan Jankovic leads four Rainbow Warriors in double digit scoring at 16.0 points per game. He is followed by Aaron Valdes (14.3 ppg), Roderick Bobbitt (13.0) and Isaac Fleming (10.3). Jankovic is third in the conference in field goal percentage (.572) and also makes 40.7 percent of his shots from long distance. Bobbitt leads the Big West in assists at 5.3 per game and in steals at 2.3 per game.
The Highlanders are 2-7 all-time against the Rainbow Warriors (
view results) including 1-6 since Hawai'i joined the Big West prior to the 2012-13 season. That victory came last year on UC Riverside's home floor, 66-62 (
box score/
recap).
Long Beach State has won six straight games since dropping a 74-72 decision at UC Riverside on January 23 (
box score/
recap). The 49ers are second in the conference in scoring during Big West games at 73.9 points per outing, and second in the league in three-point shooting at 35.6 percent. Defensively, the Beach allows just 67.2 points per game to conference opponents, limiting the league to 41.4 percent shooting from the field and 31.5 percent from long distance.
Nick Faust is the 49ers primary offensive threat at 17.1 points per game, but Justin Bibbins and Gabe Levin are also averaging double figures at 10.9 and 10.3 points per game respectively. Levin is fourth in the Big West in field goal percentage at 53.9 percent, while Bibbins is fourth in three-point field goal percentage connecting on 43.8 percent of his attempts.
UC Riverside is 11-33 all-time against the 49ers (
view results), but snapped a 12-game losing streak to Long Beach State on January 23 of this year.
