HENDERSON, Nev. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (16-14) made it to The Big West Championships at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada, and are now in pursuit of their second-straight trip to March Madness. The sixth-seeded Gauchos will take on the seventh-seeded CSUN Matadors in the first round on Wednesday, March 13.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos ended the regular season in The Thunderdome as they welcomed UC Riverside. The Highlanders had one of their hottest starts to the season as they grabbed the early lead. Despite UC Santa Barbara's best efforts, they weren't able to come out with the win as they lost 64-81.
 
MANAGING THE MATADORS
CSUN is heading into The Big West Championships in a slump as they are 1-5 over their last six games, only grabbing a win on the road against Cal State Fullerton.
 
The Big West announced their all-conference honorees, and CSUN's De'Sean Allen-Eikens earned a spot on the All-Big West First Team. He was the fourth leading scorer in The Big West this season as he averaged 18.5 points per game while also adding on 5.3 assists per game.
 
There are three other Matadors averaging double-digit figures this season and they are Dionte Bostick, Keonte Jones and Gianni Hunt. Bostick, who earned a spot on the All-Big West Honorable Mention team, was second on the team in points this season, averaging 15.3 per game. Jones and Hunt also helped the offense with 10.9 and 10.4 points per game, respectively.
 
Jones also impacted the team on defense. He grabbed the most boards for the Matadors with 214 while notching the most steals with 53 and blocks with 48.
 
WHEREABOUTS
The Gauchos and the Matadors will face off in the Dollar Loan Center at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13. This first round game will be streamed on ESPN+ for those who can't make it to Henderson. The winner of this game will move on to the quarterfinals where they will play No. 3 Hawai'i.