UCSD and UC Irvine play for Big West Championship
UC Irvine Anteaters (27-5, 18-3 Big West) vs. UCSD Tritons (28-4, 19-2 Big West)
Henderson, Nevada; Saturday, 9:40 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tritons -5.5; over/under is 134
BOTTOM LINE: UCSD takes on UC Irvine in the Big West Championship.
The Tritons have gone 19-2 against Big West teams, with a 9-2 record in non-conference play. UCSD scores 80.3 points and has outscored opponents by 18.3 points per game.
The Anteaters are 18-3 against Big West teams. UC Irvine averages 75.7 points and has outscored opponents by 10.1 points per game.
UCSD averages 80.3 points, 14.7 more per game than the 65.6 UC Irvine gives up. UC Irvine has shot at a 45.5% clip from the field this season, 5.3 percentage points higher than the 40.2% shooting opponents of UCSD have averaged.
The teams play each other for the third time this season. UCSD won the last matchup 85-67 on Feb. 9. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 22 to help lead UCSD to the victory, and Bent Leuchten scored 23 points for UC Irvine.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tait-Jones is scoring 19.7 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Tritons. Tyler McGhie is averaging 15.3 points and 3.3 rebounds over the last 10 games.
Justin Hohn is shooting 37.9% from beyond the arc with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Anteaters, while averaging 11.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals. Leuchten is shooting 57.3% and averaging 15.5 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Tritons: 10-0, averaging 81.3 points, 29.1 rebounds, 17.6 assists, 9.2 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 47.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.9 points per game.
Anteaters: 8-2, averaging 74.4 points, 31.9 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.6 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.