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Men’s basketball
Who: UC Santa Barbara (7-9, 1-2)
When: Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Where: The Thunderdome, Santa Barbara
John Fajardo | LBSU Athletics
Junior Branford Jones dribbles past UC Irvine’s Mike Best in LBSU’s loss to the Anteaters on Jan. 14 inside the Walter Pyramid.
Need to know: Long Beach State (8-11, 2-2) will try and bounce back from two consecutive losses when it takes on UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday.
LBSU leads the all-time series against the Gauchos, 62-58. However, UCSB has won three of the last four matchups, including the last time the teams met; the Gauchos grabbed a 70-55 win at home on Feb. 12, 2015.
The 49ers must watch out for UCSB’s leading scorer, senior Michael Bryson. The 6-foot-4-inch guard is averaging 18.7 points per game. He scored a career-high 36 points earlier in the season against Seattle University on Dec. 30. Bryson also leads the Gauchos with six rebounds per game and ranks second with 2.8 assists per game.
Women’s basketball
Who: Cal State Fullerton (2-15, 0-3)
When: Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Where: Walter Pyramid
Ben Hammerton | Daily 49er
Junior guard Raven Benton lets go of a jumper in LBSU’s 89-71 win against Portland State on Nov. 15, 2015.
Need to know: The last time the Long Beach State women’s basketball team played against Cal State Fullerton, it rewrote the record books by making 20 three pointers in an 82-61 win at Titans Gym on Jan. 9. That established a new Big West and school record for most in a single game.
This time around, LBSU (13-5, 2-2) will host the reeling Titans, who have lost their last 15 games. The 49ers will need to contain Fullerton’s freshmen Michelle Berry and Lauren Nubla. Berry is third in the Big West in points per game, averaging 14.1 ppg, while Nubla tied her career-high of 11 points on five field goals against Cal Poly on Saturday.
