Worthy leads UC Riverside against UCSB

UCSB Gauchos (16-8, 9-4 Big West) at UC Riverside Highlanders (8-17, 3-10 Big West)

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

BOTTOM LINE: UC Riverside hosts UCSB after Marqui Worthy scored 36 points in UC Riverside's 88-74 loss to the CSU Northridge Matadors.

The Highlanders are 5-5 on their home court. UC Riverside ranks eighth in the Big West with 22.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Andrew Henderson averaging 4.1.

The Gauchos are 9-4 in Big West play. UCSB is fifth in the Big West scoring 79.3 points per game and is shooting 48.3%.

UC Riverside averages 72.2 points per game, 0.4 fewer points than the 72.6 UCSB allows. UCSB averages 9.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.4 more made shots on average than the 6.6 per game UC Riverside allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Henderson is shooting 40.7% and averaging 17.2 points for the Highlanders. Worthy is averaging 18.6 points over the last 10 games.

Aidan Mahaney averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Gauchos, scoring 14.6 points while shooting 41.0% from beyond the arc. CJ Shaw is averaging 14.2 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Highlanders: 2-8, averaging 72.2 points, 32.1 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 5.4 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 41.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.1 points per game.

Gauchos: 7-3, averaging 78.8 points, 31.3 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.7 points.

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