COSTA MESA, Calif. (Interstat) — A stark contrast in trajectories will be on display Wednesday when the Riverside City Tigers visit the Orange Coast College Pirates in a California community college men’s basketball matchup.

Riverside (7-6) enters with a winning record and aims to solidify its standing, while Orange Coast (1-13) seeks to build on the momentum of its lone victory of the season. The Pirates snapped a 13-game skid with an 87-80 road win at Santa Barbara on Dec. 30.

The Tigers are looking to rebound from a lopsided 109-76 defeat at Citrus on Dec. 19, their most recent outing. Kollen Murphy led Riverside in that contest with 22 points and five rebounds. Prior to that, Riverside had won three of its previous four games.

Orange Coast will lean heavily on sophomore guard Chris Obiajulu, who has been a consistent bright spot. He poured in 23 points in the win over Santa Barbara and is averaging 15.8 points over his last five games. His backcourt mate, Zach Moloian, added 15 points in that victory.

Riverside’s offense has shown potency, scoring 85 or more points in three wins this season. However, defensive consistency has been an issue, as evidenced by the 109 points allowed to Citrus.

The Pirates have struggled defensively all season, surrendering an average of 82.2 points per game and losing by 30 or more points four times. Containing Murphy and Riverside guard Christian Warren, who dished out six assists against Citrus, will be a primary concern.

Despite the records, a Interstat game simulator projects a dead-even final score of 100-100, suggesting the potential for a high-scoring affair.

Wednesday’s game is the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams. They will play again at Riverside on Jan. 30.

Following this contest, Riverside hosts Fullerton on Friday, Jan. 9. Orange Coast remains at home to face Santa Ana on the same night.