UI, EWU will battle Big West

The University of Idaho and Eastern Washington University drew Big West Conference opponents as part of ESPNU’s BracketBusters event.

The Vandals (3-17 overall) will meet former Big West Conference rival UC Riverside (4-17) at the Cowan Spectrum on Feb. 17. EWU (11-11) will visit UC Santa Barbara (13-6) on the same date.

UC Riverside is winless in 12 road games and 0-7 in Big West play. The Highlanders’ four wins have come against Eastern Illinois, Vanguard, Hope International and UC Davis.

“We think it’s a good matchup for us,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “I’m sure they were hoping for us, so we are probably both happy.”

Idaho is 7-2 against the Highlanders. The teams haven’t faced each other since 2002. Idaho is No. 272 in CBS.sportsline.com’s RPI while UC Riverside is 321.

Idaho is obligated to play at UC Riverside next season.

Four WAC teams will play in televised games on ESPN outlets: Albany at Boise State, Northern Iowa at Nevada, Ohio at New Mexico State and Utah State at Oral Roberts.

The EWU-UC Santa Barbara contest will feature a pair of high-scoring guards. Eagles sophomore Rodney Stuckey is seventh in the nation at 24 points per game. Gauchos counterpart Alex Harris is No. 13 at 21.2 points.

UC Santa Barbara is in second place in the Big West. The Gauchos have impressive non-conference wins over Montana State (88-56), UNLV (79-76) and Fresno State (70-42). EWU lost by three to Montana State and by three to UNLV. The Eagles split with CS Fullerton (a 110-100 win) and CS Northridge (a 102-98 loss) of the Big West.

UCSB is expected to visit EWU next season.

Games involving Big Sky teams include Portland State at Cal Poly, Pacific at Montana and San Jose State at Northern Arizona. None of those games is slated for television.