GAME #21
Hawai'i (13-5, 2-2) at UC Irvine (13-7, 4-0)
Saturday, January 25, 2014 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, California
Series Record: UCI leads 5-4
Last Meeting: UCI won 71-60 (3/14/13 in Anaheim)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 20th Season, & Steve Henkle)
TV: ESPN3 (Trent Schlom, Richie Schueler, Courtney Sweet)
Audio / Video / Live Stats
HOMECOMING AT THE BREN
● UC Irvine, 6-0 in January to begin 2014, hosts Hawai'i on Homecoming Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in a Big West Conference game. The Anteaters have won 21 of their last 25 games in the Bren Events Center dating back to February 2012.
● Fourth-year head coach Russell Turner's Anteaters, who have won eight of their last 10 games, are 13-7 overall and 4-0 atop the Big West following a 72-66 home win over Cal State Northridge Thursday.
● The 4-0 Big West start is the best for UCI in eight years since the 2005-06 team opened league play 8-0. The 13-7 overall start is the program's best record after 20 games since the 2002-03 team began with a similar mark.
● This is the 10th meeting between UCI and Hawai'i with the 'Eaters leading the series, 5-4. UCI won two of the three meetings last season, including 71-60 in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals at the Honda Center last March.
● UCI is 12-0 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent from the field. The 'Eaters have held its last six opponents to a field-goal percentage of .332.
● 7-6 freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye, the nation's tallest player, is 10 of 10 from the field in Big West games and he has converted his last 20 field goals. The NCAA Division I record for consecutive field goals made is 26 by Bowling Green's Torian Oglesby during the 2011-12 season.
● Approximately 40 former UCI men's basketball players and coaches are expected to attend Saturday night's Homecoming game versus Hawai'i.
● Both coaching staffs Saturday night are planning to wear sneakers in recognition of Coaches vs. Cancer weekend across the nation.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● As of Friday, of 345 teams ranked, UCI is ninth in the nation in blocked shots per game at 6.6, 10th in assists per game (17.1), 16th in field-goal percentage defense (.383) and 29th in field-goal percentage (.482).
● 7-6 freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye is ninth nationally in blocked shots per game at 3.47 and his 66 total blocks rank sixth in the nation.
● UCI moved up six spots this week to No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Wichita State (19-0) tops the poll. UC Santa Barbara is 18th and the Anteaters meet the Gauchos Thursday night in Santa Barbara.
● The 'Eaters rank first in the Big West in field-goal percentage defense (.383), assists per game (17.05) and blocked shots per game (6.55).
● The 'Eaters are 7-0 this season when holding their opponents to less than 60 points, 11-2 this season when scoring at least 70 points, 12-3 when outrebounding its opponent and 10-2 when leading at halftime. UCI is 8-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
● Senior guard Chris McNealy has scored 1,066 points in his career to rank 22nd in UCI history. He has 462 career rebounds as he looks to become the 17th player in Anteater history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
● McNealy ranks 11th at UCI with 117 career threes and 14th with 253 assists.
● Junior forward Will Davis II is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 161, including a school single-season record 88 last year. He ranks 18th in school history with 541 rebounds and he has scored 808 points in his UCI career. He ranks second in the Big West in field-goal percentage at .597.
● 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 66 blocked shots. He is shooting 78.9 percent from the field on 71 of 90.
● 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.
● Luke Nelson is the highest-scoring freshman in the Big West at 11.4 points per game and he leads UCI with 37 threes. He has scored in double figures 14 times this season. He scored a season-high 19 points in the 81-58 win over Eastern Washington Nov. 24.
● Sophomore point guard Alex Young has 24 assists in the last three games and he leads UCI with 91 assists. He is the Big West leader in assists (6.50) for league games. He tied his career high with nine against Cal State Fullerton Jan. 16. After just 57 career games, Young ranks 15th in UCI history with 235 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.
● Redshirt sophomore Mike Best has averaged 7.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in the last three games.
● Junior post John Ryan has 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots in the last three games.
ABOUT HAWAI'I
● Fourth-year head coach Gib Arnold's Rainbow Warriors are 13-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big West following a 90-73 win at UC Davis Thursday night.
● Hawai'i leads the conference in scoring (82.3), scoring margin (+10.7), field-goal percentage (.485), rebounding margin (+5.7) and steals (7.17).
● Senior forward Christian Standhardinger ranks second in the Big West in scoring (18.4) and fourth in rebounding (7.7). Junior guard Garrett Nevels and sophomore forward Isaac Fotu are averaging 14.1 points apiece. Fotu leads the league in field-goal percentage (.632) in Big West games.
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