UC Irvine and Northern Colorado square off in NIT matchup

Northern Colorado Bears (25-9, 17-4 Big Sky) at UC Irvine Anteaters (28-6, 18-4 Big West)

Irvine, California; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: UC Irvine and Northern Colorado meet in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Anteaters have gone 18-4 against Big West teams, with a 10-2 record in non-conference play. UC Irvine ranks second in the Big West in rebounding averaging 34.9 rebounds. Bent Leuchten paces the Anteaters with 9.0 boards.

The Bears are 17-4 in Big Sky play. Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky with 15.9 assists. Jaron Rillie paces the Bears with 4.6.

UC Irvine’s average of 7.0 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.3 more made shots on average than the 6.7 per game Northern Colorado gives up. Northern Colorado has shot at a 51.1% clip from the field this season, 11.5 percentage points higher than the 39.6% shooting opponents of UC Irvine have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Leuchten is shooting 54.8% and averaging 15.4 points for the Anteaters. Devin Tillis is averaging 12.7 points over the last 10 games.

Isaiah Hawthorne is shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, while averaging 17.4 points and 5.3 rebounds. Rillie is averaging 16.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Anteaters: 8-2, averaging 76.1 points, 32.0 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 6.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.8 points per game.

Bears: 8-2, averaging 79.0 points, 31.6 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 5.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 51.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.3 points.

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

By The Associated Press