UC Santa Barbara (8-3, 4-2) vs. Cal State Northridge (5-4, 1-1)
Matadome, Northridge, California; Friday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UC Santa Barbara looks for its fifth straight conference win against Cal State Northridge. UC Santa Barbara’s last Big West loss came against the UC Irvine Anteaters 73-69 on Dec. 28, 2020. Cal State Northridge lost 85-77 on the road to Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Cal State Northridge’s Darius Brown II has averaged 10.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists while Alex Merkviladze has put up 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds. For the Gauchos, JaQuori McLaughlin has averaged 15.7 points and six assists while Amadou Sow has put up 10.9 points and 7.7 rebounds.
OFFENSIVE THREAT: Brown has accounted for 53 percent of all Cal State Northridge field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 16 field goals and 24 assists in those games.
PERFECT WHEN: UC Santa Barbara is a perfect 6-0 when the team records at least nine offensive rebounds. The Gauchos are 2-3 this season when they fail to reach that mark.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Gauchos have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Matadors. Cal State Northridge has 47 assists on 75 field goals (62.7 percent) across its previous three games while UC Santa Barbara has assists on 57 of 83 field goals (68.7 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The sturdy UC Santa Barbara defense has held opponents to just 62.4 points per game, the 29th-lowest in Division I. Cal State Northridge has given up an average of 77.3 points through nine games (ranked 260th, nationally).
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