UC-San Diego (11-6, 5-0) at UC-Irvine (12-5, 5-0) – 10:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to Orange County in Southern California where the UC-Irvine Anteaters host the surprising UC-San Diego Tritons in a battle of Big West leaders. UCSD is a fourth-year transitional team that will be fully eligible for the NCAA Tournament and other postseason play beginning next season. Their notable wins in the Big West have come against UC-Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. Bryce Pope leads the Tritons with 18.7 points per game.
UC-Irvine has mostly built their record in league play against teams in the bottom of the conference, although their win at UC-Davis was against someone in the top half of the league. Outside of the Big West, the Anteaters have beaten Denver, USC and Toledo. Defense continues to be UC-Irvine’s calling card; they allow only 66.5 points a game to their opponents during the season.