UC Irvine looks for 25th victory this season in matchup against UCSB

UC Irvine Anteaters (24-4, 15-2 Big West) at UCSB Gauchos (19-8, 11-7 Big West)

Santa Barbara, California; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UC Irvine will try to earn its 25th victory this season when the Anteaters visit the UCSB.

The Gauchos are 8-4 in home games. UCSB is 3-3 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Anteaters have gone 15-2 against Big West opponents. UC Irvine ranks second in the Big West with 25.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Jada Wynn averaging 6.5.

UCSB scores 66.6 points, 9.6 more per game than the 57.0 UC Irvine allows. UC Irvine has shot at a 40.4% rate from the field this season, 3.3 percentage points above the 37.1% shooting opponents of UCSB have averaged.

The teams play for the second time this season in Big West play. UC Irvine won the last meeting 63-41 on Feb. 7. Hunter Hernandez scored 15 points to help lead the Anteaters to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Madison Naro is averaging 7.6 points and 3.7 assists for the Gauchos. Zoe Borter is averaging 13.0 points over the last 10 games.

Hernandez is scoring 18.3 points per game and averaging 6.0 rebounds for the Anteaters. Wynn is averaging 15.3 points and 6.4 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gauchos: 5-5, averaging 60.3 points, 32.1 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 37.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.0 points per game.

Anteaters: 8-2, averaging 70.6 points, 34.8 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 8.9 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 40.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.