UC Irvine Anteaters (24-5, 15-3 Big West) at Cal Poly Mustangs (3-25, 1-17 Big West)
San Luis Obispo, California; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UC Irvine takes on Cal Poly after Hunter Hernandez scored 26 points in UC Irvine’s 70-62 loss to the UCSB Gauchos.
The Mustangs are 3-10 on their home court. Cal Poly is 2-15 against opponents with a winning record.
The Anteaters are 15-3 against Big West opponents. UC Irvine ranks third in the Big West with 25.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Jada Wynn averaging 6.5.
Cal Poly’s average of 4.0 made 3-pointers per game is 2.1 fewer made shots on average than the 6.1 per game UC Irvine allows. UC Irvine’s 40.2% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.2 percentage points lower than Cal Poly has allowed to its opponents (42.4%).
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. UC Irvine won the last meeting 84-39 on Feb. 13. Wynn scored 21 points to help lead the Anteaters to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Vanessa McManus is shooting 40.6% and averaging 16.3 points for the Mustangs. Charish Thompson is averaging 14.6 points over the last 10 games.
Hernandez is scoring 18.6 points per game and averaging 6.0 rebounds for the Anteaters. Wynn is averaging 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mustangs: 0-10, averaging 53.5 points, 30.8 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 6.4 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 36.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.9 points per game.
Anteaters: 7-3, averaging 69.4 points, 34.2 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 8.6 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 39.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.