UC Irvine Anteaters (9-5, 2-0 Big West) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (6-8, 0-2 Big West)

Bakersfield, California; Thursday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: CSU Bakersfield takes on UC Irvine after CJ Hardy scored 20 points in CSU Bakersfield’s 64-63 win against the Idaho Vandals.

The Roadrunners are 5-2 on their home court. CSU Bakersfield is 4-7 in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Anteaters have gone 2-0 against Big West opponents. UC Irvine scores 78.3 points and has outscored opponents by 11.9 points per game.

CSU Bakersfield makes 42.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.9 percentage points higher than UC Irvine has allowed to its opponents (37.6%). UC Irvine has shot at a 46.5% clip from the field this season, 1.5 percentage points above the 45.0% shooting opponents of CSU Bakersfield have averaged.

The Roadrunners and Anteaters meet Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dailin Smith is averaging 16 points for the Roadrunners. Mike Price is averaging 1.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Jurian Dixon is scoring 15.3 points per game and averaging 3.4 rebounds for the Anteaters. Derin Saran is averaging 12.7 points and 4.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Roadrunners: 4-6, averaging 74.3 points, 30.4 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 8.9 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.8 points per game.

Anteaters: 6-4, averaging 70.1 points, 34.7 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 6.7 steals and 5.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.9 points.

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