TONIGHT

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UC Santa Barbara (4-6, 2-1) at Utah State (9-3, 0-1), 6, KTLK (1340) -- Santa Barbara is in bad shape physically. Down to eight players, the Gauchos learned that leading scorer Casey Cook (10.8 points, 5.5 rebounds) will sit out at least six weeks because of a broken bone in his right foot. They haven’t defeated Utah State at Logan since 1999. The Aggies, perennially one of the Big West’s top teams, opened conference play with a stunning 69-62 loss at Idaho. There have been impressive wins -- they defeated in-state rivals Utah, Brigham Young and Weber State -- and some head-scratching losses (Central Florida, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne).

Pacific (8-2, 3-0) at Long Beach State (2-9, 0-2), KVMD (Ch. 23), 7 -- Six of Long Beach’s losses are by nine points or fewer, leading third-year Coach Larry Reynolds to think the 49ers can make a turnaround. “Winning and success kind of build on each other, and the frustrating part is we’ve been in a lot of these games but we haven’t made the plays to finish them out,” Reynolds said. Pacific has already shown that it can win on the road with victories at Fresno State and Nevada.

Cal State Northridge (4-7, 2-1) at UC Irvine (6-3, 2-1), 7, KUCI-FM (88.9), KWRM (1370) -- The young Anteaters can ill afford to look past a surging Northridge team and focus on Saturday’s tussle with Big West-leading Pacific. Forward Calvin Chitwood and guard Jonathan Heard, both freshmen, have given the Matadors a big lift, and center Thomas Shewmake has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in the last three games. “I don’t know what he was thinking the first few games, but something just clicked and he figured it was time to start playing basketball,” Coach Bobby Braswell said of Shewmake. Irvine has played only three home games but has won all of them and has 46 wins in its last 56 at the Bren Center.

UC Riverside (4-6, 0-2) at Cal State Fullerton (5-4, 1-1), 7, KPRO (1570) -- With four consecutive home games against teams that are a combined 17-25, Fullerton senses it has an opportunity to become a contender in a league where only Pacific has distinguished itself. “After this stretch, we’re really going to have an idea how serious we are in this deal,” Fullerton Coach Bob Burton said. Riverside Coach John Masi wants better play out of junior guard Rickey Porter and hinted that he may lose his starting spot. Porter is shooting only 33.1%.

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-- Eric Stephens