Game Notes in PDF
GAME #14
UC Irvine (6-7, 0-0) vs. UC Davis (4-7, 0-0)
Saturday, December 29, 2012 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.
Series Record: UCI leads 16-12
Last Meeting: UCI won 68-61 (2/2/12 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 19th Season)
Audio, Video & Live Stats Links
UC IRVINE HOSTS UC DAVIS IN BIG WEST OPENER
● Third-year head coach Russell Turner's UC Irvine squad (6-7) opens Big West Conference action Saturday night hosting UC Davis in the Bren Center at 7:00.
● This is the 36th year of Big West basketball for the 'Eaters, who have won three of their last four conference openers, including 71-62 at Cal State Northridge last season (12/29/11). UCI is 15-20 all-time in league openers.
● UCI has won three of its last five games, including 61-54 at USC Dec. 20.
● The 'Eaters have played nine of their first 13 games away from home and have won their last two road games – the victory at USC and 58-51 at Fresno State Dec. 15.
● UCI leads the series with UC Davis, 16-12, winning the last three meetings and four of the past five. The 'Eaters swept last season, 70-55 in Davis (1/7/12) and 68-61 in the Bren Center (2/2/12).
● UCI and UC Davis played a pair of double-overtime games in the 2010-11 season with the Aggies winning 108-107 in Davis (1/29/11) and the 'Eaters prevailing 96-87 in Irvine (2/24/11).
● Following Saturday's game, UCI plays five of its next seven Big West contests on the road, beginning Jan. 3 at UC Santa Barbara.
● UCI's 61-54 win at USC Dec. 20 marked just the second win in the series for the 'Eaters and the first in 29 years. Daman Starring scored a game-high 23 points and Adam Folker added 12.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● In the last five games, UCI has held the opposition to 34.5 percent from the field. No UCI opponent this season has shot over 44.2 percent versus the 'Eaters, who have held five teams under 35-percent shooting.
● UCI is 5-0 this season when leading at halftime and also when holding the opposition to under 60 points.
● UCI, of 345 NCAA Division I teams, entered the week ranked 11th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (.356), 17th in assists per game (16.9), 24th in assist/turnover ratio (1.31), 28th in three-point field goal defense (.282), 36th in blocked shots per game (5.2) and 42nd in rebound margin (+6.6).
● UCI ranks first in the Big West Conference in scoring defense (62.8), field-goal percentage defense (.356), three-point field goal percentage defense (.282), blocked shots per game (5.2) and assists per game (16.9).
● Sophomore post Will Davis II leads the Big West in blocked shots with 28 for a 2.2 average per game. He grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in the Dec. 15 win at Fresno State.
● Senior Daman Starring is the only UCI player averaging in double figures at 13.3 points per game. He ranks third in the Big West in three-point field goal percentage at .479 on 23 of 48.
● Freshman point guard Alex Young ranks third in the Big West with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.5 on 48 assists and 19 turnovers.
● Senior Adam Folker has 490 career rebounds as he aims to become the 18th member of the UCI 500-rebound club.
● Senior Michael Wilder has 466 rebounds and 873 points in his UCI career. Twenty previous UCI players have scored 1,000 career points.
● UCI's 69-point win over Pacifica (116-47) Nov. 15 set a school record for margin of victory, passing the previous mark of 68 (91-23) against Pomona-Pitzer Dec. 7, 2002. UCI tied the school record for single-game assists with 30, which was initially set against Drury College Jan. 6, 1982.
● Senior Michael Wilder ranks No. 4 in UCI history with 178 career threes and senior Daman Starring is 14th with 103. Michael Hunter is the school's career leader with 236 threes.
A LOOK AT UC DAVIS
● Second-year head coach Jim Les' Aggies have won three of their last four games and are 4-7 on the season.
● UC Davis won two of three games in the World Vision Challenge at Logan, Utah, Dec. 20-22, defeating Southern Illinois, 78-70, losing to host Utah State, 73-61, and topping Nicholls State, 82-71.
● Sophomore guard Corey Hawkins leads the Aggies in scoring at 17.5 points per game. Hawkins' father, Hersey, was a standout player at Bradley University. Hersey Hawkins scored 32 points in a 121-111 loss to UCI at Crawford Hall Dec. 1, 1986, and he scored 51 points in a 139-111 win over the 'Eaters at Peoria, Ill., Dec. 19, 1987.
● Senior guard Ryan Howley leads the Big West in rebounding at 10.5 boards per game while junior guard Ryan Sypkens is first in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.522) and three-point field goals made per game (4.3).
● Sypkens is averaging 16.2 points per game and sophomore forward J.T. Adenrele is averaging 11.2 points.
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