GAME #17
UC Irvine (9-7, 0-0) at Long Beach State (4-10, 0-0)
Thursday, January 9, 2014 – 8:10 p.m.
Walter Pyramid (4,200) – Long Beach, California
Series Record: LBSU leads 57-35
Last Meeting: UCI won 67-60 (3/15/13 in Anaheim, Big West Tournament semifinals)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 20th Season, & Steve Henkle)
TV: Fox Prime Ticket (Paul Sunderland, Michael Cage & Rahshaun Haylock)
Audio / Live Stats
UC IRVINE OPENS BIG WEST PLAY AGAINST 49ERS
● UC Irvine begins Big West Conference action on the road Thursday night against Long Beach State, three-time defending conference regular-season champion. The Anteaters have won the last two meetings against the 49ers, including 67-60 in the Big West Tournament semifinals at the Honda Center last March 15.
● Thursday night marks the 93rd meeting in the series between UCI and LBSU, with the 49ers holding a 57-35 lead. The Anteaters' last win in the Pyramid was 70-48 Feb. 2, 2008.
● UCI plays at UC Riverside Saturday night before a stretch of three straight home games, beginning next Thursday night against Cal State Fullerton.
● UCI, 9-7 overall, has recorded its most non-conference victories in the regular season since the 2000-01 team was 9-2 in non-league play. That squad finished with a school-record 25-5 overall mark.
● The 'Eaters opened January with home wins over Morgan State, 75-63, and San Diego Christian, 91-56. Junior forward Will Davis II averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the two victories, sophomore guard Alex Young 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds, and junior post John Ryan 13.0 points and 4.5 boards.
● As of Monday, UCI ranks first in the nation in total assists with 282 and fifth in total blocks with 104.
● 7-6 freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye, the nation's tallest player, ranks fifth in the nation in total blocks (55) and he is 14th in blocked shots per game at 3.44. Will Davis II ranks 10th nationally in field-goal percentage at .617.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● UCI is shooting 49 percent from the field for the season and shot 57.3 percent in the two wins last week. The Anteaters, who are 7-2 this season when shooting at least 50 percent, limited last week's opponents to 33.6 percent. UCI shot a season-high 61.5 percent in the 63-50 win at Denver Dec. 21.
● UCI is 8-0 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, 9-3 when outrebounding its opponent and 7-2 when leading at halftime.
● As of Monday, UCI ranks ninth in the nation in assists per game (17.6), 13th in blocked shots per game (6.5) and 24th in field-goal percentage (.490). The 'Eaters rank first in the Big West in each of those categories.
● Senior guard Chris McNealy scored 12 points in last Saturday's 91-56 win over San Diego Christian, becoming the 23rd player in Anteater history to reach 1,000 points as he currently has 1,007. He is averaging 11.6 points on the season.
● McNealy is tied with Stanislav Zuzak for 14th in UCI history with 109 career threes and he is also 14th with 243 assists.
● Junior forward Will Davis II leads the Anteaters in scoring (12.5) and rebounding (7.4). He is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 161, including a school single-season record 88 last year. He ranks 19th in Anteater history with 525 career rebounds. Davis has scored 791 points in his UCI career.
● 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 guard Luke Nelson is averaging 11.6 points and he leads UCI with 31 threes and 16 steals. He has 55 assists for the season, including 23 in the last five games.
● Sophomore point guard Alex Young is averaging 9.9 points and he leads UCI with 65 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.
● Freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye leads UCI and the Big West with 55 rejections. He is shooting 76.3 percent on 61 of 80.
● Ndiaye is 28 of 32 (.875) from the field in the past six 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.
● Junior post John Ryan was 12 of 14 from the field in last week's two wins. He is shooting 65.4 percent on the season.
BLACK & BLUE
● Thursday night's game is part of the "Black & Blue Rivalry Series" presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach. The annual series compiles points on head-to-head matchups between UCI and LBSU in all common sports.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
● Seventh-year head coach Dan Monson's 49ers are 4-10 overall, but have won three of their last four games, including a home win over USC and road victory at Nevada.
● Junior guard Tyler Lamb, a UCLA transfer, has averaged 20.8 points since becoming eligible four games ago.
● Junior guard Mike Caffey is averaging 16.9 points and was named to the preseason media All-Big West team.
● Senior forward Dan Jennings is averaging 11.2 points and leads LBSU in rebounding at 7.9 boards per game.
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