Idaho State squares off against UCSB

UC Santa Barbara (6-4) vs. Idaho State (3-4)

Holt Arena, Pocatello, Idaho; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UC Santa Barbara and Idaho State look to bounce back from losses. Both squads are coming off of road losses in their last game. Idaho State lost 77-65 to Pepperdine on Dec. 6, while UC Santa Barbara fell 62-61 at Southern Utah on Saturday.

BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Idaho State’s Tarik Cool has averaged 14.3 points while Chier Maker has put up 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. For the Gauchos, Amadou Sow has averaged 14.9 points and 8.2 rebounds while JaQuori McLaughlin has put up 13.7 points.

FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: McLaughlin has had his hand in 41 percent of all UC Santa Barbara field goals over the last five games. The junior guard has 29 field goals and 19 assists in those games.

WINNING WHEN: UC Santa Barbara is a perfect 5-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 42.3 percent or less. The Gauchos are 1-4 when allowing the opposition to shoot any better than that.

ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Bengals have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Gauchos. Idaho State has 49 assists on 85 field goals (57.6 percent) over its previous three games while UC Santa Barbara has assists on 28 of 62 field goals (45.2 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Idaho State is ranked second among Big Sky teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 34.9 percent. The Bengals have averaged 10.9 offensive boards per game.