'Eaters Journey North to Pacific, UC Davis
March 06, 2013 | Men's Basketball
GAME #31
UC Irvine (17-13, 10-6) at Pacific (17-12, 11-5)
Thursday, March 7, 2013 – 7:00 p.m.
Alex G. Spanos Center (6,150) – Stockton, Calif.
Series Record: Pacific leads 40-37
Last Meeting: UCI won 68-59 (2/20/13 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 19th Season)
Audio / Video /Live Stats
'EATERS TRAVEL TO PACIFIC, UC DAVIS
● Third-year head coach Russell Turner's UC Irvine squad (17-13, 10-6 Big West) closes out the regular-season schedule on the road with Big West games at Pacific Thursday night and UC Davis Saturday evening.
● UCI is tied with Cal Poly for third place in the Big West entering Thursday night's games. The 'Eaters trail Pacific by one game for second place and Hawai'i is in fifth place at 10-7, a half-game behind UCI and Cal Poly for third. Pacific is two games behind conference leader Long Beach State and the Tigers host the 49ers Saturday.
● The Big West Tournament is Mar. 14-16 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
● The 'Eaters have won five straight games, the program's longest winning streak since an eight-game spree in January 2006. UCI's 10-6 Big West record is the program's best league mark since the 2007-08 team finished 10-4.
● UCI has won seven of its past nine games and the team's 17 overall wins are the most for UCI since the 2007-08 squad finished 18-16.
● In the first meeting against Pacific this season, UCI hit its last six three-point attempts and 8 of 16 in the game in a 68-59 victory at the Bren Center Feb. 20. Daman Starring led the 'Eaters with 16 points. Adam Folker had 13 points and 13 rebounds, Will Davis II recorded 13 points and eight boards, and Michael Wilder scored 12 points.
● UCI was 12-1 at home this season, including 9-0 in Big West games, as the Anteaters went undefeated at home in conference play for the first time since the 2000-01 team went 8-0 in league games at the Bren Center en route to the program's first Big West regular-season title. That team finished 25-5 overall and 15-1 in Big West play.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● The 'Eaters are coming off a 72-69 win over league-leading Long Beach State at the Bren Center last Saturday. Senior Michael Wilder hit the go-ahead three from the left corner with 1:09 remaining to break at 63-63 tie. Senior post Adam Folker led UCI with 16 points, hitting 7 of 12 shots, and he added seven rebounds. Sophomore post Will Davis II tied his own single-game school record with eight blocked shots and he added 12 points and five boards. Wilder registered 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. Daman Starring also scored 10 points.
● UCI is 9-0 this season when holding the opposition to under 60 points and 13-3 when leading at halftime. UCI is 11-5 this season when the opponents have shot below 40 percent from the field and 10-4 when outrebounding its opponent.
● Senior post Adam Folker, with 604 career rebounds, ranks No.12 in UCI history and is the latest addition to the school's 600-rebound club.
● Folker leads the Big West in field-goal percentage at .581 for all games on the season.
● Senior Michael Wilder has 1,012 points and 556 rebounds in his UCI career. His 556 career boards rank 16th in Anteater history. He is the 21st member of the 1,000-points club at UCI and Wilder is one of 16 UCI players to have scored 1,000 points and grabbed 500 rebounds in their careers.
● Wilder's 210 career threes rank third in UCI history, trailing just Michael Hunter (236) and Ross Schraeder (233).
● Daman Starring has 142 career threes and is tied with Scott Brooks for No. 7 in the Anteater record book.
● Starring, the only UCI player averaging in double figures at 13.5 points per game, has 992 career points as he aims to become the 22nd player in Anteater to reach 1,000 points.
● Sophomore post Will Davis II, with 73 blocked shots this season, has established a new single-season school record, breaking the previous mark of 55 he set last season. He tied his single-game school record with eight in last Saturday's win over Long Beach State.
● Davis has 128 career blocks in 60 career games as he zeroes in on the school record of 149 rejections by Adam Parada from 2000-04.
● Freshman point guard Alex Young, with 125 assists this season, has the most assists in a season by a UCI player since Aaron Fitzgerald had 190 in 2005-06. Young's 125 assists are a UCI freshman single-season record.
● The lineup of Alex Young, Daman Starring, Michael Wilder, Adam Folker and Will Davis II has started 18 games this season. The 'Eaters are 12-6 overall with that starting unit, 9-5 in league games.
● As of Monday, UCI ranks 13th in the nation in assists per game (16.2), 14th in field-goal percentage defense (.383), and 32nd in assist/turnover ratio (1.25).
● Alex Young ranks 24th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.5) and Will Davis II is 23rd in blocked shots per game (2.52).
● For all games, UCI ranks first in the Big West Conference in field-goal percentage defense (.383), three-point field goal percentage defense (.322), scoring margin (+4.7), rebounds per game (39.1), assists per game (16.2) and blocked shots per game (4.6).
● Individually for all games, Adam Folker leads the Big West in field-goal percentage (.581) and he is fourth in offensive rebounds per game (2.7). Will Davis II tops the league in blocked shots per game (2.5) and Alex Young is second in assist/turnover ratio (2.5) and second in assists per game (4.2). Daman Starring is third in three-point field goal percentage (.437), sixth in three-point field goals made per game (2.1) and ninth in free-throw percentage (.767).
● In conference games only, Davis is first in blocked shots per game (2.7) and Young is first in assist/turnover ratio (2.7) and third in assists (4.6). Adam Folker is third in offensive rebounds per game (3.1) and fourth in field-goal percentage (.583). Davis is fifth in field-goal percentage at .563.
● Former UCI player Darren Fells (2004-08) has signed a three-year contract as a tight end with the Seattle Seahawks. Fells has played professional basketball in Argentina, Belgium, France, Finland and Mexico. He ranks third in UCI history with 780 career rebounds and 12th in scoring with 1,252 points.
A LOOK AT PACIFIC
● Bob Thomason is in his 25th and final season as head coach at Pacific. His Tigers are 17-12 overall and 11-5 in the Big West this season, winning their last two games and four of the past six. The Tigers currently sit in second place in the Big West.
● Pacific is 7-0 at home in Big West games this season.
● Senior guard Lorenzo McCloud leads Pacific in scoring at 11.4 points per game and he ranks sixth in the Big West with an average of 4.0 assists per game.
● Senior forward Travis Fulton leads the team in rebounding at 3.9 boards per game and he is second in scoring at 9.1 points per contest.
● Thursday is the final Big West game between UCI and Pacific as the Tigers are moving to the West Coast Conference July 1.
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