Anteaters look to keep it going against Mustangs

CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO AT UC IRVINE

WHEN: Tonight, 7:05

WHERE: Bren Events Center

RADIO: KUCI/88.9 FM; Sirius/Channel 107

BREAKDOWN: The Anteaters (6-9, 1-1 in the Big West Conference) are coming off, arguably, their biggest win of the season, a 66-63 home triumph Thursday over preseason conference favorite UC Santa Barbara ... With six of UCI’s next seven games, following this one, on the road against conference foes, securing its sixth victory on campus this season without a loss is vital for UCI as it pertains to the Big West race ... Seniors Patrick Sanders (14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game) and Darren Fells (14.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg) continue to pace the Anteaters, whose rotation is short three players, after Adam Rodenberg was hurt, then transferred and Chuma Awaji and Trey Harris are sidelined indefinitely due to academic issues ... Sophomore Justin Johnson, originally slated to redshirt this season, was in uniform against UCSB, though he did not play ... Cal Poly (6-9, 1-2) , the Big West Tournament runner-up last season, has lost four of its last five and six of its last eight ... The Mustangs have six players averaging between 9.3 and 7.1 points per game, led by 6-foot-7 senior forward Matt Hanson (9.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg) ... Senior guard Dawin Whiten, a second-team all-conference performer last season, is averaging 8.1 ppg ... UCI junior guard Brett Lauer is shooting 46.6% from three-point range (27 of 58) to average 7.3 ppg ... The game reunites brothers Tod and Tim Murphy, who are assistant coaches for UCI and Cal Poly, respectively.

— Barry Faulkner