UC Santa Barbara is looking for its Blue-Green rivalry to pull out of a skid on Thursday night as it enters the home stretch of its men’s and women’s basketball seasons.
The Gaucho men (14-12, 7-9 Big West Conference) will play host to Cal Poly at 7 p.m., while UCSB’s women (16-10, 10-6) will travel to San Luis Obispo to face the Mustangs at 6 p.m.
UCSB’s men have lost four of their last five games to drop to eighth place in the league standings with just four contests remaining. Junior guard Ajay Mitchell leads UCSB with averages of 19.5 points, ranking 43rd nationally, and 3.9 assists.
Cal Poly (4-24, 0-16) will try to end two ominous losing streaks: its 16-game losing streak is the longest in the nation and it has also lost 13 straight to UCSB since their league opener in 2018.
The women’s game will feature two teams battling for a top-four seed — and a first-round bye — in the Big West Tournament.
The Gaucho women, who’ve lost their last two games and three of their last five, are tied for fifth with the Mustangs (14-11, 10-6). UCSB is led by senior forward Alexis Whitfield who averages 14.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.
