SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (12-6, 4-3 Big West) hits the road this week coming off a 1-1 performance at home, as they play UC San Diego (15-4, 5-2 Big West) and Cal State Fullerton (6-14, 1-7 Big West).
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara split their conference games last week, dropping to fourth in The Big West standings. On Thursday, the Gauchos fought hard from start to finish to pick up a 66-63 win over UC Riverside. Stephan Swenson called game and sealed the victory, as he hit his second three-point buzzer-beater in a weeks span to beat the Highlanders. Following the game, the Gauchos stayed at home to take on the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday afternoon. Despite a late comeback surge, the Gauchos fell short 64-60.
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
UC San Diego enters the week with a 15-4 overall record and a 5-2 conference play record, sitting second in The Big West. Last week, the Tritons split both conference games, defeating Long Beach State (80-54) and losing against UC Riverside (85-81). The Tritons swept the season series last season and have won three of the last five matchups against the Gauchos.
Offensively UC San Diego ranks second in The Big West in points per game and first in scoring defense. The Tritons thrive in points per game due to Senior Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who ranks third in The Big West, scoring just under 19 points per contest. Tyler McGhie and Hayden Gray also sport a double-digit points average of 17.2 and 10.7 respectively.
The Tritons like to get out and run as they rank 29th nationally in fast break points scoring 14.7 per game. Additionally, the Gauchos will need to guard the three-point line well with UC San Diego making over 10 per game coming into the week.
On the defensive end of the ball, the Tritons are very active. As it stands today they rank seventh nationally in turnovers forced per game, forcing just under 17 per contest. They also rank second nationally in steals per game averaging nearly 11 per game.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Before they meet with the Gauchos, Cal State Fullerton will play Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday night. They come into the week with a 6-14 overall record and sit 1-7 in conference play. This will be the first meeting this season between the Titans and Gauchos, with the second matchup taking place less than a month later on Feb. 20.
Despite a lowly record, the Titans have played the 57th hardest non-conference schedule according to KenPom. Offensively the Titans get roughly 45 percent of their points each game off the bench. Of their 64.7 points per game average, 29.4 come off the bench. Donovan Oday is the leading scorer for the Titans dropping 13.5 points per game.
Unlike UC San Diego, the Titans rank 351st out of 364 Division I basketball teams in three-point percentage and just about the same in three pointers made per game. The Titans draw a lot of fouls and convert at an exceptional rate. Furthermore, Fullerton ranks 50th in free throws made per game and 36th in free throw percentage, nationally.
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos Thursday night game in La Jolla will be broadcast through Spectrum Sportsnet. UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego will tip off at 7 p.m. in LionTree Arena. Saturday's contest will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats available through, ucsbgauchos.com/MBBLiveStats.
