Friday, March 14th, 8:30 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Anaheim Convention Center Arena (7,734) -- Anaheim, California. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: UCI 12-2, UCSB 11-3. Away Record: UCI 3-10, UCSB 10-4. Neutral Record: UCI 2-3, UCSB 2-0. Conference Record: UCI 9-7, UCSB 12-4. Series Record: UC Santa Barbara leads, 41-27.

GAME NOTES: Back in action after nearly a week off, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos confront the UC Irvine Anteaters in the semifinals of the 33rd annual Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. The top seed in the event, UCSB closed out the regular season with three straight wins and six in the last seven games overall, the last conference loss coming against this same Irvine group. In terms of the tournament, UCSB has won the title just once, with a 60-56 victory over former conference member Utah State back in 2002. As for the Anteaters, the fifth seed in the event, they had to take part in the first two rounds of this year's tourney and managed to get through with a 77-63 victory against Long Beach State in the first round on Wednesday night and then a 57-56 squeaker versus Pacific last night. UC Irvine has never worn the crown from this tournament. UCI won both regular-season games versus the Gauchos, which means UCSB now leads the all-time series with the Anteaters by a count of 41-27. The winner of this game goes for the tourney title on Saturday night versus the survivor of the Fullerton State/Cal State Northridge meeting.

UC Irvine's Patrick Sanders saved the day, and the season, on Thursday night when he blocked a potential game-winning shot just before the buzzer in the one-point victory over Pacific. Sanders shot just 2-of-10 from the field in the contest, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds, but redeemed himself with the clutch defensive stand. Michael Hunter tallied 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting behind the three-point line, while Darren Fells added 11 points and a team-best 13 rebounds to the attack. Sanders has been a top performer for the Anteaters the entire season, leading the group in scoring with 15.6 ppg and 32 rejections. Fells gives the squad one of the best frontcourts in the conference with his 14.2 ppg and 7.0 rpg, not to mention placing second on the team in assists with 64 and second in steals with 48 over the course of his 30 games.

It certainly wasn't the easiest way to close out the regular season last Saturday, but it was still important for UCSB to capture the two-point overtime win against Long Beach State on the road. Alex Harris tallied a team- best 21 points to offset his five turnovers, followed by Chris Devine with 17 points and seven boards. Ivan Elliott tacked on 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 showing from the floor, followed by James Powell and his 10 points. With the victory the Gauchos set a new school record for wins in a season with 23. Having much to do with that was and is Alex Harris who was named the Big West co-Player of the Year, the fourth player in school history to earn at least a share of the honor. Harris leads the team in scoring with 20.3 ppg on the strength of his 44 percent shooting from three-point range, while Powell (12.3 ppg) is even better out on the perimeter at 46.2 percent, which helps the team reach 41.8 percent from beyond the arc on the year.

Defeating the same team three times in the same season is a tough task, and with UC Irvine forced to play the first two rounds of this tournament the squad has got to be a tired bunch, so lean in favor of the rested Gauchos.

Predicted Outcome

UC Santa Barbara 75, UC Irvine 64