UC Santa Barbara at Cal Baptist (5-0)

CBU Events Center – Riverside, Calif.

All-Time Record vs. the Lancers: 0-1

Last Meeting: Cal Baptist 76, at UCSB 64 (12/19/2018)

 

UC Santa Barbara vs. San Diego State

The Thunderdome – Santa Barbara, Calif.

All-Time Record vs. the Aztecs: 14-22

Last Meeting: UCSB 63, at San Diego State 58 (12/21/2018)

 

Live broadcasts of both games this weekend, produced by Fall Productions, will be available on BigWest.TV. The "Voice of the Gauchos" Gerry Fall will deliver the play-by-play alongisde former UCSB men's basketball assistant coach Louis Reynaud on color.

 

An audio-only broadcast of the game at Cal Baptist will be available through UCSBGauchos.com. Steve Wendt will deliver the play-by-play from the CBU Events Center.

 

G1: San Diego State 73, UCSB 70 - Despite a career-high 31 points from Danae Miller and Ila Lane's 16 boards, the Gauchos were unable to defeat the Spartans at home. The game was tight in the first half, but UCSB''s work was undone in the third quarter when the Spartans outscored the hosts 25-15.

 

G2: UCSB 57, USC 46 - The Gauchos trailed for just a minute and 36 seconds in their upset win over the Women of Troy. Ila Lane's double-double (21 pts, 12 ast) and Danae Miller's 12 points led a spirited all-around effort that culminated in UCSB's first win over USC since 2007.

 

The Lancers are 5-0 and have already beaten two Big West teams, taking down both Long Beach State and CSUN at home. All five games have been played at CBU's Events Center, and the game against UCSB is the sixth of its seven-game homestand to begin the year. The offense has been on fire, averaging 80 points a game so far this season led by three players in double-digits: Caitlyn Harper, Taylor Wu, and Lexy Ram.

 

Fast fact: This is only the second-ever meeting between the Gauchos and Lancers. Cal Baptist is currently reclassifying to Division I from Division II. This is the second year that CBU competes at the Division I level across its sports.

 

Like the Gauchos, the Aztecs sport a .500 record through six games played this season. A loss at Hawai'i kicked off the season for the Aztecs, while other notable games include a win over Cal State Fullerton and a loss to Cal. Despite a relatively low scoring output of 61 points per game, four players average more than 10 points per matchup.

 

Fast fact: Aside from last season, the last matchup between these two teams that the home team failed to win came in 2013, when San Diego State defeated UCSB 71-67 at the Thunderdome.

 

In the Big West coaches' preseason poll released in mid-October, Santa Barbara was picked to finish in sixth place, garnering one less vote than Cal Poly for the fifth spot. UC Irvine led the way with 77 votes and six first-place selections. Defending Big West champions UC Davis earned 70 points, with two coaches voting it as the top team in the conference. Riverside had 60 points to finish in third along with one first-place nod, and Hawai'i received 52 points. Just two points separated Cal Poly, UCSB, and CSUN, with the teams receiving 35, 34, and 33 points, respectively. Long Beach State's 29 points and Cal State Fullerton's 15 rounded out the list.

 

Redshirt senior guard Coco Miller was selected to the Preseason All-Big West team in October. In 30 contests last season, Miller averaged 12.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. In conference play, she played 35.6 minutes per game, third amongst preseason all-conference nominees behind teammate Danae Miller (37.3) and Marina Ewodo of UC Riverside (36.5). At the conclusion of last year's campaign, she was named to the All-Big West second team alongside Danae Miller.

 

After losing a large group of players from the 2017-18 campaign, the 2018-19 season gave the Gauchos a chance to rebuild. A roster that featured seven new players managed just three wins in its non-conference slate, but picked up steam late in the season. Though it was still a scrappy battle for the final seed in the Big West Tournament that the Gauchos eventually earned with a 44-42 win over Cal Poly at home, the team made great strides across the board from the beginning of the season to the end. The season ended in the opening round of the conference tournament against fifth-seeded UC Irvine.