On the Road Again
Aggies try to keep pace with tough road game at UCSD. Hawai'i visits Bakersfield and co-leader UCI treks to SLO. UCSB, lurking 1/2 game behind, travels to UCR.
6:30 PM: Hawai’i at CSU Bakersfield — The Rainbow Warriors (17-5, 9-3) begin their penultimate road trip of the Big West conference season tied for 1st place. Hawai’i, the only Big West team in the NET top 100, is 13-0 vs. Quad 4 competition. UH point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor is dealing with a severe turf toe injury and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season. Hawai’i will be hosting a nationally televised game on ESPNU Feb. 21 vs. UC Santa Barbara. The depleted Roadrunners (8-17, 2-11) have lost 8 straight games and are running out of time, trailing by 3 games in the race for the Big West Tournament. CJ Hardy has been out since early January with a foot injury, at which time the prognosis was a late February/early March return. Bakersfield has not reached 80 points in a game since Hardy was sidelined.
7:00 PM: UC Irvine at Cal Poly — The Anteaters (16-8, 9-3), who lost at UC Santa Barbara last Saturday, head right back up the 101 today for a game in San Luis Obispo. UC Irvine, 10-0 vs. Quad 4 schools, is playing its first game vs. Cal Poly this season. UCI gave up a season high-tying 84 points at Santa Barbara as the Gauchos shot .509 from the field, well above UCI’s season field goal percentage defense of .378. Harrison Carrington scored 10 first-half points at UCSB for his 6th straight game in double digits. The Mustangs (9-16, 5-8) were ice cold in a 67-58 loss at UC Davis, shooting .316 from the field and .250 from the 3-point line. Cal Poly was 14 for 14 from the free throw line and leads the conference in free throw percentage (.775). The ‘Stangs have lost 2 straight games and sit in the final Big West Tournament berth, just 1/2 ahead of Long Beach State.
7:00 PM: Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State — The Titans (12-13, 7-6) have won 4 of their last 5 games and are looking for a season sweep of their rivals to the west. Cal State Fullerton leads the Big West in scoring offense (83.8 points per game), free throw attempts per game (25.3), fastbreak points (18.5 per game), bench points per game (33.8), assist/turnover ratio (1.35), steals per game (8.4), turnovers forced per game (15.4) and turnover margin (+3.6). The Beach (8-16, 4-8) have lost 5 consecutive games to fall out of Big West Tournament qualifying position. Freshman Gavin Sykes has missed the last 3 games with an ankle injury. Long Beach State has not held an opponent under 70 points since Jan. 3.
7:00 PM: UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside — The Gauchos (16-8, 9-4), normally mediocre without point guard Miro Little, stunned UC Irvine in a raucous, nationally televised game last Saturday to tighten up the Big West race. ESPN was so entertained that it picked up two more UCSB games for late February. Little was seen wearing a brace/cast that appeared to immobilize one or more fingers on his right hand. Aidan Mahaney leads the Gauchos in scoring at 14.6 points per game. The Highlanders (8-17, 3-10) have lost 3 in a row and are 2-11 since mid-December. UC Riverside is last in the conference in field goal percentage defense (.479), bench points (14.7 per game), fastbreak points (7.9 per game), turnovers per game (11.1), steals per game (5.2). Andrew Henderson, 16th in the nation in field goal attempts, is averaging 17.1 points per game.
7:00 PM: UC Davis at UC San Diego — GAME OF THE NIGHT. The Aggies (15-9, 8-5) are on a 3-game winning streak to move into a tie with CSUN for 4th place in the Big West. UC Davis is just one game behind UCSB and 1-1/2 games behind UC Irvine and Hawai’i in the nip-and-tuck Big West race. UC Davis is 2-3 vs. Quad 2 or better schools but lost to UCSD at home on Jan. 22. Guard Marcus Wilson is the reigning Big West Player of the Week after averaging 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in wins over UCSB and Cal Poly. The Tritons (16-9, 6-7) lost a tough one at Hawai’i last Saturday and have now seen defeat in 4 of their last 5 games. Emanuel Prospere II is currently out with an injury with an exact timeline for his return unconfirmed, but head coach Clint Allard has indicated that he will be back this year. The Tritons have been relying on freshman guard Hudson Mayes to fill in during Prospere’s absence.