Saran leads UC Irvine against UC Davis after 22-point showing

UC Irvine Anteaters (12-6, 5-1 Big West) at UC Davis Aggies (10-7, 3-3 Big West)

Davis, California; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UC Irvine faces UC Davis after Derin Saran scored 22 points in UC Irvine's 67-66 loss to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

The Aggies are 7-2 in home games. UC Davis is 0-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Anteaters are 5-1 in conference play. UC Irvine is the Big West leader with 27.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Kyle Evans averaging 5.8.

UC Davis scores 80.6 points, 13.8 more per game than the 66.8 UC Irvine allows. UC Irvine averages 77.9 points per game, 1.9 more than the 76.0 UC Davis gives up.

The Aggies and Anteaters square off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Niko Rocak is averaging 9.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks for the Aggies. Nils Cooper is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games.

Jurian Dixon is averaging 15.8 points for the Anteaters. Evans is averaging 13.7 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Aggies: 5-5, averaging 82.3 points, 31.4 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 8.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.3 points per game.

Anteaters: 8-2, averaging 75.8 points, 34.8 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 6.6 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points.

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