Halftime is over

Get back to your seats with your nachos and soft drink. The Big West enters the back stretch of the conference season.

Saturday, February 1, 2025, all times PST

1:00 PM: UC Davis at UC Irvine, Spectrum SportsNet, ESPN+, Live Stats

GAME OF THE AFTERNOON. When all the rest of the games involve at least one team with a losing conference record, you earn the sobriquet by default. UC Davis entered the week with the toughest remaining schedule in the Big West, thus beginning a closing run vs. a gauntlet. The Aggies (12-9, 6-4) lost Thursday at UC Riverside on a Nate Pickens 3-pointer with 5 seconds left and now must turn around and face a team that doesn’t lose on its home court.

Conference scoring leader TY Johnson (21.2 ppg) has scored at least 20 points in 5 straight games. Pablo Tamba scored just 4 points at Riverside but is averaging 11.1 ppg on 64% shooting from the floor. Connor Sevilla averages 2.1 made threes per game on 37.9% shooting from the perimeter and is 33 of 34 (.971) from the free throw line. Niko Rocak has three double doubles and is pulling down 7.8 rebounds per game. Leo DeBruhl is the other 3-point threat for UC Davis at .373.

The Anteaters (19-3, 9-1) survived a legitimate scare from lowly Long Beach State on Thursday, needing to score the final 7 points of regulation just to get to overtime. A Quad 4 loss would have surely ended any discussion of a safety-valve at-large bid. As it was, UC Irvine saw its NET rank fall two positions. My amended position is that UC Irvine can afford one more regular season loss ONLY against UC San Diego, CSUN or perhaps the season finale at UC Santa Barbara (I’m very wobbly on that). UC Davis, despite its contender status in the Big West, is another Quad 4 opponent and a must win for UCI on the at-large front. UC Irvine has won 21 straight games at home, where it plays its next 3 games.

Bent Leuchten leads the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and leads the conference in double doubles with 10. Leuchten pulls down 9 rebounds per game and has even made 13 three-pointers this season, on 26 attempts. Devin Tillis, the hero of Thursday night’s game with two overtime 3-pointers, is averaging 9.2 rebounds in his last 5 games. Myles Che posted his third 20-point performance of the season Thursday at Long Beach and is averaging 16.4 points per game and 3.6 assists since New Year’s Day. Justin Hohn is 4th on the team (12.0 ppg) in scoring despite taking by far the most shots on the squad (10.9 attempts per game). Jurian Dixon has reached double digits in scoring in 4 of his last 5 games.

5:00 PM: CSU Bakersfield at CSUN, ESPN+, Live Stats

The Roadrunners (10-12, 4-6) stagger into the San Fernando Valley with losses in 3 of their last 4 games and a tenuous hold on a tie for the final two Big West Tournament seeds. CSU Bakersfield is coming off two consecutive home losses and is 2-8 in true road games. The ‘Runners are ranked 4th in the country in 3-point percentage at .398, but they have the 5th-most personal fouls in Division I. Jemel Jones scored 45 points the last time he played CSUN.

The Matadors (14-7, 6-4) pulled into a 4th-place tie with a road win at UC Santa Barbara, and they hope to avenge a 94-90 loss at Bakersfield in which they blew a 23-point lead. CSUN is 8-0 vs. Quad 4 teams and has 6 such contests remaining in the 2nd half of the conference season. Northridge dominated the boards in Santa Barbara, outrebounding the Gauchos 42-25 to improve its season rebound margin to +9.5 per game.

5:00 PM: Cal Poly at UC Riverside, ESPN+, Live Stats

Here comes Cal Poly! The Mustangs (8-14, 2-8) still have work to do to qualify for the Big West Tournament, but they appeared up to the task in a near wire-to-wire victory at CSU Bakersfield. Cal Poly’s 2-game winning streak coincides with a reduction ikn 3-point attempts. The Mustangs had 10 consecutive games in which they launched at least 30 trey tries. In their two conference wins they’ve taken just 36 total 3-pointers, just 31% of their overall shot attempts.

The hottest team in the conference is the Highlanders (14-8, 7-3), who have had a flair for the dramatic. UC Riverside is riding a 4-game winning streak in which no victory was by no more than 4 points. The latest win, over UC Davis, came on a Nate Pickens 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. UCR has a good chance to hold on at least a single-bye seeding position given it has the 2nd-easiest schedule remaining.

7:00 PM: Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara, ESPN+, Live Stats

The Beach (7-15, 3-7) pushed UC Irvine to the brink on Thursday, but still ended up with their 5th consecutive loss. Long Beach State, though, has increasingly been competitive in the skid and may be ready to break through. Devin Askew dominates the usage on the offensive end of the court, with over 30% of the plays going through the 6’5” senior guard.

The Gauchos (13-8, 5-5) were murdered on the boards in a home loss to CSUN Thursday night. UCSB gave up 16 offensive boards, including several in Northridge’s closing 9-0 run. Santa Barbara has proven vulnerable to athletic teams that slash to the basket and crash the boards. On offense, the Gauchos are increasingly settling for 3-point shots. Cole Anderson is the national leader in 3-point percentage at .515.

9:00 PM: Cal State Fullerton at Hawai'i, ESPN+, Live Stats

The Titans (6-16, 1-9) hope the 2nd half of the conference season goes much better than the first. Fullerton plays 6 of its next 9 games on the road, where it is just 2-9 this season. The Titans are best when they drive the ball and draw fouls as they are 30th in the nation with 17 made free throws per game and 2nd in the Big West in free throw percentage at .762.

The Rainbow Warriors (12-9, 4-6) made wholesale changes to the starting lineup Thursday night vs. UC San Diego but early success faded as Hawai’i lost its 3rd straight. Slumping Gytis Nemeikša was one of 3 players who lost their starting job, and he saw the floor for just 8 minutes and did not score a point. Nemeikša is still the leading scorer for the ‘Bows at 12.7 points per game, but the Lithuanian has just 8 points in his last 50 minutes of play.