UC Irvine (11-8, 3-0) vs. Long Beach State (6-14, 1-3)
The Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UC Irvine looks for its 20th straight conference win against Long Beach State. UC Irvine's last Big West loss came against the Long Beach State Beach 80-70 on Jan. 16, 2019. Long Beach State lost 66-62 to Cal State Fullerton in its most recent game.
STEPPING UP: Long Beach State's Chance Hunter has averaged 14.8 points and 5.1 rebounds while Michael Carter III has put up 12.1 points. For the Anteaters, Collin Welp has averaged 14.4 points and 6.6 rebounds while Eyassu Worku has put up 12.5 points.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Beach have allowed just 74.5 points per game across four conference games, an improvement from the 80.9 per game they allowed in non-conference play.CLUTCH COLLIN: Welp has connected on 49.1 percent of the 57 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 11 of 16 over the last five games. He's also made 83 percent of his foul shots this season.
YET TO WIN: The Anteaters are 0-5 when they score 67 points or fewer and 11-3 when they exceed 67 points. The Beach are 0-13 when allowing 66 or more points and 6-1 when holding opponents below 66.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Beach have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Anteaters. Long Beach State has an assist on 32 of 70 field goals (45.7 percent) over its past three matchups while UC Irvine has assists on 33 of 79 field goals (41.8 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The stout UC Irvine defense has held opposing offenses to a field goal percentage of 37.1 percent, the 10th-best mark in the country. Long Beach State has allowed opponents to shoot 45.2 percent from the field through 20 games (ranked 285th).
