SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- UC Santa Barbara's Men's Basketball team (3-2) looks to bounce back after losing to Nevada just two days ago. The Gauchos will face Nobel University (1-5) at home on Monday, Nov. 24, before heading to Las Vegas for the 2025 Resorts World Las Vegas Classic. They will face Lehigh University (2-4) on Friday, Nov. 28, and either Seattle University (4-1) or Texas State (5-2) on Saturday, Nov. 29, to close out the MTE.

PROMOTIONS
UC Santa Barbara will host a food drive during Monday's game against Nobel, giving out complimentary tickets to the Long Beach State game on Dec. 4.

LAST WEEK'S LOWDOWN
UC Santa Barbara dropped its first game of the season in a 78-74 overtime loss to LMU on Monday, Nov. 17, despite 19 points from Miro Little and 18 from Colin Smith. The Gauchos then lost to Nevada in Reno on Saturday. A second half surge led the Wolf Pack to victory over the Blue and Gold.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
In his first season with Nobel, head coach, and former Gaucho Men's Basketball student-athlete, Les Bean led the team to a 2-22 record, looking to build on that performance in his second year at the helm. Last season, the team averaged 59 points per game, ranking 39th in the NCCAA. Defensively, the Knights allowed 78.9 points per game on average, which landed them at 24th in their league. After a rebuilding season, Nobel University welcomes 13 new players who are expected to contribute right away.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS
Following their contest against Nobel, the Blue and Gold will head east to open the 2025 Resorts World Las Vegas Classic against Lehigh. Last season, the Mountain Hawks ended with an 11-19 record and a 6-12 conference record under head coach Brett Reed. Now in his 19th season, Reed is Lehigh's winningest head coach, boasting a 53.4 percent career winning percentage.

Lehigh aims to improve after being eliminated in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament last year. The Mountain Hawks averaged 70.3 points per game offensively, ranking 5th in the league, while allowing 71.4 points per game, landing at 6th in the league. Lehigh most recently lost to Columbia and will take on Marist on Tuesday before they head West to face the Gauchos.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Seattle University is the Gauchos' tentative Saturday matchup, having finished the 2024-25 season with a 14-18 overall record and 8-8 in conference play. Seattle is on a three-game winning streak and fresh off a 77-69 victory over Stanford, the Redhawks, led by 10th-year head coach Chris Victor, look to build on their early-season success in Las Vegas.

In the 2024-25 season, the team ranked first defensively in the Western Athletic Conference, allowing only 60 points per game; offensively, the Redhawks  averaged 68.6 points per game, ranking eighth in the WAC.

Seattle University, which made a run to the semifinals of the 2025 WAC Tournament before falling to Utah Valley, looks to build on last season's success with seven new players.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
UC Santa Barbara's other possible Saturday opponent is Texas State, coming off a 65-56 win against Little Rock. The Bobcats finished the 2024-25 season at 16-16 overall and a 9-9 conference record, and have already begun to improve on that with a 4-2 record so far this season. Texas State head coach Terrence Johnson, now in his sixth season, has amassed an 88-68 record to date.

Offensively, Texas State ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference last season, averaging 76.2 points per game, while defensively, they allowed 73.3 points per game, ranking 10th in the conference. Texas State entered the 2025 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 7 seed and advanced to the third round before falling to Old Dominion.

With 11 new additions, the Bobcats hope to continue building on their strong start to the season.

FOLLOW ALONG
Monday's game against Nobel University will begin at 6 p.m. at The Thunderdome, with doors opening at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stat savailable. On Friday, UCSB will tip off against Lehigh at 1:30 p.m. at the Resorts World Events Center. On Saturday, the Gauchos will take on either Seattle or Texas State with the game taking place at 11 am or 1:30 p.m. Both Friday and Saturday's contests will be available to stream on FloCollege.