UCSB Gauchos (17-8, 10-4 Big West) at Cal Poly Mustangs (10-16, 6-8 Big West)
San Luis Obispo, California; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UCSB plays Cal Poly after Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points in UCSB’s 76-68 victory against the UC Riverside Highlanders.
The Mustangs are 5-6 on their home court. Cal Poly is ninth in the Big West with 13.3 assists per game led by Peter Bandelj averaging 3.4.
The Gauchos are 10-4 in Big West play. UCSB is sixth in the Big West with 9.3 offensive rebounds per game led by Zion Sensley averaging 1.8.
Cal Poly averages 81.0 points, 8.6 more per game than the 72.4 UCSB allows. UCSB has shot at a 48.3% rate from the field this season, 2.2 percentage points above the 46.1% shooting opponents of Cal Poly have averaged.
The Mustangs and Gauchos face off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Hamad Mousa is averaging 20.2 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs. Cayden Ward is averaging 12.1 points over the last 10 games.
Mahaney is shooting 44.7% and averaging 14.8 points for the Gauchos. CJ Shaw is averaging 14.0 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mustangs: 4-6, averaging 81.6 points, 30.6 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 7.9 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.2 points per game.
Gauchos: 8-2, averaging 79.9 points, 30.4 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 6.7 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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