GAME #18
UC Irvine (10-7, 1-0) at UC Riverside (5-10, 0-1)
Saturday, January 11, 2014 – 7:00 p.m.
SRC Arena (2,753) – Riverside, California
Series Record: UCI leads 30-23
Last Meeting: UCI won 52-48 (2/13/13 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 20th Season, & Steve Henkle)
Audio / Video / Live Stats
UC IRVINE FACES HIGHLANDERS SATURDAY NIGHT
● UC Irvine, 3-0 in the month of January, travels to UC Riverside Saturday night for a Big West Conference game against the Highlanders. UCI begins a stretch of three straight home games Thursday night against Cal State Fullerton.
● The teams split last season with UCR winning 68-58 at the SRC Arena (1/19/13) and UCI prevailing 52-48 at the Bren Center (2/13/13). The Anteaters have lost in their past four trips to Riverside, last winning 71-66 Jan. 29, 2009.
● UCI, at 10-7 overall, is off to the program's best start after 17 games since the 2004-05 team also opened 10-7.
● Fourth-year head coach Russell Turner's UCI team has won five of its last seven games, including 46-44 in the Big West opener Thursday night at Long Beach State. That victory snapped the 49ers' 26-game Big West home winning streak.
● Senior guard Chris McNealy led the 'Eaters Thursday night with 12 points, 11 of those in the second half. He scored eight consecutive points in less than two minutes early in the second half to turn a 25-23 deficit into a 31-25 UCI lead with 16:48 remaining. McNealy added five rebounds and four assists in the victory.
● Sophomore guard Alex Young had 11 points while freshman guard Luke Nelson scored eight points and recorded three assists.
● Mamadou Ndiaye, UCI's 7-6 freshman center and the nation's tallest player this season, pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and had four blocked shots.
● Junior forward Will Davis II registered seven rebounds along with six points while redshirt sophomore forward Mike Best scored five and snared three boards in 12 reserve minutes.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● As of Friday, UCI ranks second in the nation in total assists with 293 and fifth in total blocks with 109. The 'Eaters are 11th nationally in assists per game (17.2) and 15th in blocked shots per game (6.4).
● 7-6 freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye, the nation's tallest player, ranks third in the nation in total blocks (59) and he is 10th in blocked shots per game at 3.47. Junior forward Will Davis II ranks 14th nationally in field-goal percentage at .607.
● The 'Eaters rank first in the Big West in field-goal percentage (.482), field-goal percentage defense (.391), assists per game (17.24) and blocked shots per game (6.41).
● UCI is 9-0 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent from the field.
● The 'Eaters are 8-2 when scoring at least 70 points this season, 10-3 when outrebounding its opponent and 7-2 when leading at halftime. UCI is also 7-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field and 5-0 when holding the opponents to less than 60 points.
● Several notes from Thursday night's 46-44 win at Long Beach State:
…Those were the fewest points scored by an opponent since a 67-42 UCI win at Pacific Jan. 13, 2007.
…The 46 points scored were the fewest by UCI since an 89-42 loss at Texas Nov. 15, 2009.
…Those were the fewest points recorded by the Anteaters in a win since defeating Oregon, 46-44 in overtime, in the season opener Nov. 29, 1982, at the Anaheim Center.
…Those were the fewest points registered in a win in regulation since the Anteaters topped Montana, 46-44, Dec. 19, 1981, in the title game of the Champion Holiday Classic at Missoula, Mont.
● Senior guard Chris McNealy has scored 12 points in each of the last two games and is the 23rd player in Anteater history to reach 1,000 points as he currently has 1,019.
● McNealy is 14th in UCI history with 111 career threes and 247 assists. He has 446 career rebounds as he looks to become the 17th player in Anteater history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
● Junior forward Will Davis II, who ranks 18th in UCI history with 532 career rebounds, leads the Anteaters in scoring (12.1) and rebounding (7.4). He is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 161, including a school single-season record 88 last year. Davis has scored 797 points in his UCI career. Davis ranks second in the Big West in field-goal percentage at .607.
● Davis was named Big West Player of the Week Nov. 18 after averaging 15.7 points and shooting 73.1 percent from the field in three games, including 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds in the 86-72 win at Washington Nov. 14.
● Davis was selected to the Big West preseason media all-conference team. He was named MVP of the 2K Sports Classic Irvine Subregional (Nov. 22-24) after averaging 11.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in three games.
● Davis earned last season's Big West Conference's "Best Defensive Player" Award and was named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Defensive All-America team.
● Freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye leads UCI and the Big West with 59 rejections. He is shooting 76.8 percent from the field on 63 of 82.
● Ndiaye is 30 of 34 (.882) from the field in the past seven games.
● Ndiaye had a school and Big West-record 10 blocked shots in the 81-58 win over Eastern Washington Nov. 24. He had nine blocks, along with 18 points and eight rebounds, in the 86-72 victory at Washington Nov. 14.
● Freshman guard Luke Nelson is averaging 11.4 points and he leads UCI with 33 threes. He has scored in double figures 12 times this season with a high of 19 points in the 81-58 win over Eastern Washington Nov. 24.
● Sophomore point guard Alex Young is averaging 9.9 points and he leads UCI with 67 assists. Young broke UCI's freshman single-season record with 144 assists last season when he was named Big West Conference co-Freshman of the Year and also was selected to the Mid-Major Freshman All-America team.
ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE
● Interim head coach Dennis Cutts' Highlanders are 5-10 overall and 0-1 in the Big West following a 78-73 road loss to Cal State Fullerton Thursday night.
● Sophomore forward Taylor Johns leads UCR in scoring (12.9) and rebounding (8.5).
● Senior center Chris Patton is averaging 12.5 points and 6.8 boards per game.
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