Unguarded
Starting point guards on sidelines for UCSB/Hawai'i ESPNU match. UCI looks to stay on inside track. CSUN rolls into Long Beach. Davis and Fullerton both on road as they try to earn BWT byes.
2:00 PM: UC Davis at UC Riverside — The Aggies (16-11, 9-7) missed a chance to move into a top 4 spot in the Big West, blowing a 16-point halftime lead in a heartbreaking loss at Cal State Fullerton. Nils Cooper ended a 5-game single-digit scoring streak with 26 points. UC Davis finishes its final Big West season with 3 out of 4 on the road, but 2 of those away tilts are at teams currently out of the Big West Tournament field (UCR, Long Beach State). The Highlanders (9-19, 4-12) have been a tough out lately, having lost 5 games since Jan. 24 by 8 points or less. UC Riverside took out its frustration on CSU Bakersfield Thursday night in a dominant 93-65 victory. Andrew Henderson is averaging 17.8 points per game for Riverside.
6:00 PM: CSUN at Long Beach State — The Matadors (17-10, 10-5) have gotten hot at the right time of year, winning 6 straight games to crash the party at the top of the Big West standings. CSUN is tied for 2nd place with Hawai’i, just one game back of 1st-place UC Irvine with a home contest remaining vs. the ‘Eaters next Thursday. Northridge has averaged 88.2 points per game during the winning streak. The Beach (8-19, 4-11) have fallen off a cliff, losing 8 straight games and failing to reach 60 points in each of their last 2 games. LBSU scored 80+ points in 3 consecutive wins in January; they have tallied at least 80 just once since. Long Beach is 0-11 in February in the last 2 seasons.
6:30 PM: Cal State Fullerton at CSU Bakersfield — The Titans (14-14, 9-7), winners of 4 of their last 5 games, are still alive for Big West Tournament byes as well. Fullerton has won its last 5 games vs, Quad 4 opponents, but after tonight they will be done with Q4. The Titans reached 90 points for the 8th time this season in a come-from-behind win over UC Davis, a game they led for a total of 20 seconds. The Roadrunners (8-19, 2-13) are officially playing out the string as they were mathematically eliminated from Big West Tournament contention on Thursday. Bakersfield has lost 10 straight games, with the last 4 by an average margin of 18.8 points. CSUB has not reached .500 shooting from the floor vs. a Division I opponent since its game at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 6, a 109-84 loss.
7:00 PM: UC Santa Barbara at Hawai’i — GAME OF THE NIGHT. Some of the luster has come off of this game since it was selected for broadcast by ESPNU. Each team is missing its point guard and on 2-game losing streaks. This is likely a Big West Tournament double bye elimination game. The Gauchos (17-10, 10-6) could not stop CSUN’s Josiah Davis and made several mental errors in an overtime loss to the Matadors. UCSB was called for two technical fouls, a lane violation and inbounded the ball into a ready-made corner trap that turned into Northridge’s game-tying basket in regulation. The Rainbow Warriors (18-7, 10-5) were the latest victims of surging Cal Poly, the first visiting team to win in Stan Sheriff Center since Arizona State back in November. Hawai’i has lost 2 in a row for the first time this season and never led in either game. The once vaunted UH defense has given up 80+ points in 4 of the last 6 games.
7:00 PM: UC San Diego at UC Irvine — Last year, these two teams participated in the road win exchange program and UCI kept the pattern going with a 61-59 win in La Jolla on Jan. 24. The Anteaters (18-9, 11-4) were searching for answers after a pair of Central Coast losses knocked them off their customary perch, but Irvine answered with 2 solid wins to reassume sole possession of 1st place in the conference. UCI, which spent most of the month of January on the road, reaps the benefits now with 4 of its last 5 games at Bren Events Center. The Tritons (18-9, 8-7) have righted their ship and are finding new ways to win. Leading scorer Leo Beath is not the primary go-to guy anymore as others emerge. Freshman guard Hudson Mayes was last week’s Big West Player of the Week after averaging 21 points in UCSD’s 2 wins.