Santa Barbara, CA—The UC Riverside Basketball Team (5-9) enters the final week of the regular season looking to lock down the fifth seed in next week's Big West Conference Tournament. To do so, the Highlanders need to pull ahead of UC Davis (5-9), and remain ahead of Cal Poly (4-10).
UCR travels to UC Santa Barbara (9-5) on Thursday, March 3 for a 7 pm PT tip before returning home to celebrate the careers of their two seniors—Steven Jones and
Jaylen Bland—on Saturday at 2 pm against UC Irvine (11-3). The Aggies close out their season vs. Hawai'i and at
CSUN, while the Mustangs are on the road at Irvine and Santa Barbara.
| Big West Standings (through Mar. 1) | Big West | Overall |
| Team | W | L | Pct | W | L | Pct |
| Hawai'i | 12 | 2 | .857 | 23 | 4 | .852 |
| UC Irvine | 11 | 3 | .786 | 22 | 8 | .733 |
| Long Beach State | 10 | 4 | .714 | 16 | 13 | .552 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 9 | 5 | .643 | 15 | 12 | .556 |
| UC Riverside | 5 | 9 | .357 | 14 | 16 | .467 |
| UC Davis | 5 | 9 | .357 | 10 | 17 | .370 |
| CSUN * | 5 | 10 | .333 | 10 | 19 | .345 |
| Cal Poly | 4 | 10 | .286 | 10 | 17 | .370 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 3 | 12 | .200 | 10 | 18 | .357 |
| * CSUN is not eligible for the conference tournament due to self-imposed sanctions |
The Highlanders moved into a tie with UC Davis thanks to a 77-71 win at top-ranked Hawai'i last Thursday (
box score/
recap).
Secean Johnson recorded a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win, and is averaging 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds over his last three games. Since Big West play began, he is averaging 13.2 points and 6.2 boards.
Jaylen Bland broke the program records for three-pointers in a season and a career over the past several games, and continues to add to impressive totals. He now has 107 makes on the year and 202 for his career. The senior is also ranked fourth in the nation in made threes per game at 3.57.
Both players are key reasons that UC Riverside is averaging 70.1 points per game—the most points in a season for the Highlanders since the 1999-2000 squad averaged 70.4 per game.
The Gauchos have won six straight games to climb back into upper division of the conference. Michael Bryson leads the Big West in scoring at 18.5 points per game, and also ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (9th, 48.0%) and three-point field goal percentage (
16th, 36.5%). Gabe Vincent and John Green also average double figures in scoring at 13.7 and 10.8 points per game respectively.
As a team, UC Santa Barbara ranks third in the conference in field goal percentage (.434) in Big West play and second in three-point field goal percentage (.369).
The Highlanders are 8-30 all-time against the Gauchos (
view results), and have never won at UC Santa Barbara in twenty tries.
UC Irvine still has its sights set on the the number one seed in the conference tournament and a regular season Big West championship, but they need to win both of their remaining games while Hawaii loses both of theirs.
The Anteaters boast the second highest scoring offense in the conference averaging 73.3 points per game against Big West competition. They lead the league in field goal percentage (.470) and three-point field goal percentage (.409) in conference play as well. Defensively, Irvine holds Big West opponents to a league-low 39.0 percent shooting from the field while leading the league in rebound margin.
Luke Nelson is the 'Eaters top scorer, leading a balanced offense with 13.2 points per game.
Mamadou Ndiaye is the only other member of the squad averaging more than 10 points per game at 12.6, but three other players chip in with eight or more points per contest. The 7-6
Ndiaye is also the top shot blocker in the Big West.
UC Riverside is 24-35 all-time against UC Irvine (
view results), and the Anteaters have won six of the last seven meetings between the clubs
