MBB | Gaels to Host UC Irvine, Cal at Home

Saint Mary's will take on UCI tomorrow before facing their Bay Area rival Cal on Saturday.

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (3-3) returns to McKeon Pavilion this week as they look to snap their three-game skid against UC Irvine on Wednesday and Cal on Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION
Game No. 7 vs. UC Irvine (6-1)
Date/Time: Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 p.m. PST
Location: McKeon Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
TV: http://www.wccsports.com/watch/?id=152147
Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/Saint-Marys-IMG-Sports-Network-s280256/
Live stats: https://smcgaels.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 6-5 (Last meeting: 12/16/17, H, SMC 73 - UCI 66)

Game No. 8 vs. Cal (2-3)
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:00 p.m. PST
Location: McKeon Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/Saint-Marys-IMG-Sports-Network-s280256/
Live stats: https://smcgaels.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 18-65 (Last meeting: 12/2/17, A, SMC 74 - CAL 63)

ABOUT UC IRVINE
The Anteaters come to Moraga with a 6-1 record and began the year with six straight wins before falling in their last match to Toledo. Earlier this season, UCI took down Texas A&M in College Station 74-73 and defeated Santa Clara on the road as well. Irvine is no stranger to road games as only two of their seven contests have come at home so far.

Max Hazzard leads the team in scoring with just under 10 points per contest and is the Anteaters' biggest outside threat with 37 attempts from beyond the arc taken this season. Four other Anteaters are also averaging more than nine points per game in John Edgar. Jr (9.7), Eyassu Worku (9.6), Collin Welp (9.6), and Robert Cartwright (9.4). Nobody on UCI averages more than 30 minutes per game on the court and Edgar Jr. leads the team with 28.1 mpg.

Saint Mary's and UC Irvine have met 11 times in the past and the Gaels have won each of the last four matchups. Each of the past five contests between the two squads have been in Moraga, including the Gaels' 73-66 win last season. In 2016, Saint Mary's handed the Anteaters a 31-point loss.

ABOUT CAL
The Golden Bears are fresh off a win over Gaels' WCC-rival Santa Clara and are 2-3 under second year head coach Wyking Jones. Cal's other win this season came against Hampton while the team dropped contests against Yale, Temple and St. John's on neutral court. Cal went 8-24 last season and were 2-16 in conference play.

Junior guard Paris Austin paces the Golden Bear offense with 15.6 points per game this year and averages over 34 minutes of action. Justice Sueing is the team's top rebounder at 6.8 boards per contest and is second on the team with 12.0 ppg.

Cal has been dangerous from the outside this year as the team is shooting 42 percent from distance. Darius McNeill has made 11 of his 26 three-point attempts this season to lead his club. The Bears have been outrebounded by their opposition with a six rebound margin this season and no member of the team's starting five is over 6-foot-8.

Cal has historically held an advantage over the Gaels but the same cannot be said about recent years. Saint Mary's has won three of the past four matchups dating back to 1997 and four of the last six dating back to 1988. Cal has not set foot on the Moraga campus since 1988 and have played in McKeon Pavilion a total of just three times since its construction in 1978.

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