UC Irvine hosts CSU Northridge following Hughes’ 27-point showing

CSU Northridge Matadors (4-4, 1-0 Big West) at UC Irvine Anteaters (6-4, 1-0 Big West)

Irvine, California; Saturday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: CSU Northridge visits UC Irvine after Larry Hughes Jr. scored 27 points in CSU Northridge’s 87-66 win against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners.

The Anteaters are 4-2 in home games. UC Irvine leads the Big West in rebounding, averaging 40.2 boards. Kyle Evans leads the Anteaters with 7.2 rebounds.

The Matadors are 1-0 in Big West play. CSU Northridge is fifth in the Big West with 25.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Josh O’Garro averaging 7.3.

UC Irvine averages 79.0 points per game, 0.2 more points than the 78.8 CSU Northridge gives up. CSU Northridge scores 13.3 more points per game (76.5) than UC Irvine allows to opponents (63.2).

The Anteaters and Matadors match up Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jurian Dixon is shooting 45.2% and averaging 15.9 points for the Anteaters. Jovan Jester Jr. is averaging 7.7 points.

Hughes is averaging 17.6 points and 1.6 steals for the Matadors. O’Garro is averaging 13.1 points.

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