The No. 3 seed Baylor Bears (22-10, 11-8 Big 12) take on the No. 14 seed UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (27-7, 18-5 Big West) Friday at Ball Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
UC Santa Barbara defeated the Cal State Fullerton Titans 72-62 at Dollar Loan Center on Saturday in the Big West Conference Tourney Championship, their seventh consecutive win.
Ajay Mitchell was the scoring leader with 20 points. Calvin Wishart added 16 points and seven rebounds. Baylor lost in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Tourney on March 9 at T-Mobile Center, falling to the Iowa State Cyclones 78-72. Jalen Bridges had 28 points in defeat to lead the team.
The Gauchos have been led this season by Mitchell and Miles Norris, who are averaging 16.4 and 14.1 points per game, respectively. Mitchell also has dished 5.2 assists per game. Meanwhile, Andre Kelly is grabbing 6.5 rebounds per game.
Keyonte George (15.3 ppg), Adam Flagler (14.6), and LJ Cryer (13.1) have powered the Bears’ offense. Flagler also has doled out 4.4 assists per game.
Meanwhile, Bridges has pulled down 5.8 rebounds per game. The Gauchos are shooting 49.4% from the field, ranking as one of the NCAA’s most accurate field goal shooting teams (7th).
UC Santa Barbara is 7-3 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +3.3 (74.5-71.2). For the season, the Gauchos are averaging 72.2 points per game, compared to 65.6 for opponents. Baylor has gone 6-4 over the last 10, scoring 74.3 points per game on average while holding opponents to 72.2 (+2.1 margin).
GAUCHOS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Calvin Wishart: 18.2 | 13.1 | +5.1
Points per game:
Cole Anderson: 9.4 | 7.4 | +2.0
Assists per game:
Ajay Mitchell: 6.6 | 5.2 | +1.4
BEARS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Dale Bonner: 10.8 | 7.3 | +3.5
Keyonte George: 11.0 | 22.1 | -11.1
Points per game:
Jalen Bridges: 14.0 | 10.3 | +3.7
Keyonte George: 8.2 | 15.3 | -7.1
Rebounds per game:
Keyonte George: 1.8 | 4.1 | -2.3
Assists per game:
Keyonte George: 1.0 | 2.7 | -1.7
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
Baylor -10.5 (-110)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
