UC Irvine visits UC Riverside after Hargress’ 40-point performance

UC Irvine Anteaters (17-2, 7-0 Big West) at UC Riverside Highlanders (11-8, 4-3 Big West)

Riverside, California; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UC Riverside plays UC Irvine after Barrington Hargress scored 40 points in UC Riverside’s 85-81 win over the UCSD Tritons.

The Highlanders have gone 7-1 at home. UC Riverside ranks ninth in the Big West at limiting opponent scoring, giving up 72.8 points while holding opponents to 44.6% shooting.

The Anteaters are 7-0 against Big West opponents. UC Irvine ranks second in the Big West scoring 34.0 points per game in the paint led by Devin Tillis averaging 7.8.

UC Riverside makes 41.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.7 percentage points higher than UC Irvine has allowed to its opponents (37.9%). UC Irvine has shot at a 45.2% rate from the field this season, 0.6 percentage points higher than the 44.6% shooting opponents of UC Riverside have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Hargress is scoring 20.4 points per game and averaging 2.2 rebounds for the Highlanders. Kaleb Smith is averaging 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Bent Leuchten is averaging 15.9 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Anteaters. Myles Che is averaging 13.8 points and 3.3 assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Highlanders: 6-4, averaging 72.7 points, 35.7 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 4.4 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.9 points per game.

Anteaters: 8-2, averaging 77.1 points, 36.9 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.2 points.

___

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

By The Associated Press