SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (6-1) begins Big West play this week, taking on UC San Diego (6-2) at home Thursday night before traveling to UC Davis (3-4) Saturday evening. The Gauchos gets their first taste of Big West action earlier than usual thanks to the conference's new Bold Week initiative, which mirrors the likes of the Big Ten Conference in playing conference games in early December.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara came away with two wins last week as they hosted the Mountain to Sea Showcase. A strong second half by the Blue and Gold propelled them to victory over Eastern Washington in the MTE (multi-team event) opener. The Gauchos outscored the Eagles by 14 in the second half Deuce Turner and Stephan Swenson combined for 23 of the Gauchos' 37 second-half points.
 
In the Mountain to Sea finale, freshman Zion Sensley scored a season-high 16 points to lead all scorers and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Joining Sensley on the All-Tournament Team was Jason Fontenet II and Deuce Turner. Senior Kenny Pohto was named the Mountain to Sea Showcase MVP.
 
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
The Tritons won their fourth straight game and did so in a convincing way. UC San Diego downed Division III La Verne 109-33 on Saturday, Nov. 30. The Tritons are 6-2 overall and were slotted 78th in the first NET rankings of the year. The Tritons rank the third highest in conference per the NET rankings only behind CSUN (73) and UC Irvine (29).
 
The Gauchos and Tritons are meeting during the opening weekend of Big West action for the fourth consecutive year.  During the last three seasons UC San Diego holds a 2-1 record in those opening week contests.
 
This season the Tritons are led by senior Tyler McGhie. The Denton, Texas native is averaging 18.5 points per game which ranks third in The Big West. He is also grabbing nearly four rebounds per contest along with dishing out 2.0 assists per game. Also averaging in double figures is Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (17.0) and Nordin Kapic (10.1). The trio combines for 45.6 points per game, nearly 60 percent of their team scoring average.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
The Aggies come into bold week on a two-game skid after dropping back-to-back games against Norfolk State and Oregon State, respectively. Prior to the consecutive losses the Aggies had won three of their last four including a win on the road against Grand Canyon. GCU is currently ranked ninth in the College Insiders Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
 
UC Davis is led by Big West leading scorer Ty Johnson. The Chicago, Illinois native is averaging 22.4 per game ranking eighth nationally. Prior to the two game skid the senior was averaging over 25 per contest. Johnson makes up nearly a third of the Aggie offense. When you add in Davis' other two double-digit scorers in Pablo Tamba (12.3) and Leo DeBruhl (10.4), the three account for 65 percent of the scoring.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego will tip off at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 in The Thunderdome. Following that, the Gauchos will travel north to take on the Aggies of UC Davis on Saturday, Dec. 7. Tip-off for Saturday's contest will be 5 p.m. For those unable to attend or make the trip both games will be streamed through ESPN+.