UC Santa Barbara Gauchos @ UC Irvine Anteaters
| 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|
UCSB | 27 | 33 | 60 |
UCI | 29 | 42 | 71 |
UC Irvine beats UCSB 71-60, alone atop Big West
IRVINE, Calif. -- Chris McNealy scored 17 points and UC Irvine defeated UC Santa Barbara 71-60 Thursday night in a matchup of the Big West's first-place teams.
Will Davis II added 14 points, Luke Nelson 13 and Mamadou Ndiaye 11 for the Anteaters (19-10, 10-3).
UCI made 24 of 30 free throws and outrebounded a UCSB team 36-26 that had the nation's leading rebounder coming in, Alan Williams (12.0). Williams had 15 points but only six boards despite the 7-foot-6 Ndiaye playing only 19 minutes because of foul trouble.
UCI has a one-game lead over UCSB and Long Beach State with three remaining.
A 7-2 run gave UCI a 59-52 lead with 4:52 left. The Gauchos (18-8, 9-4) got within 61-60 at 2:26 but didn't score again while UCI's Alex Young scored five of his seven points the rest of the way.
Kyle Boswell added 14 points and Michael Bryson 11 for UCSB.
Game Information
Irvine, CA
Referee:Quinton Reece
Referee:Kurt Walker
Referee:Daryl Gelinas
2025-26 Standings
| Big West Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 15-5 | - | 23-12 |
| Hawai'i | 14-6 | 1 | 24-9 |
| UC San Diego | 12-8 | 3 | 23-11 |
| Cal State Northridge | 12-8 | 3 | 20-14 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 12-8 | 3 | 18-16 |
| UC Davis | 11-9 | 4 | 19-14 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 11-9 | 4 | 18-14 |
| Cal Poly | 10-10 | 5 | 14-19 |
| Long Beach State | 6-14 | 9 | 10-22 |
| UC Riverside | 5-15 | 10 | 10-22 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 2-18 | 13 | 8-24 |
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