2014-15 Ticket Information

 

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine has been picked to repeat as league champion in the Big West Conference preseason media poll released Thursday.

Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters garnered 221 total points and 20 of the 26 first-place votes.  UC Santa Barbara (195) was chosen second and Long Beach State (180) third.  UCI was also picked first in last year's preseason poll.

UCI returns four starters and 12 players who saw game action from last season when the 'Eaters were 23-12 overall and 13-3 in the Big West to win the program's first conference regular-season title in 12 years.

Mamadou Ndiaye, UCI's 7-6 sophomore center, was selected to the media's preseason All-Big West team.

He ranked sixth in the nation last season in total blocks with a school and Big West Conference-record 106, and he was ninth nationally in blocked shots per game (3.12).  He had a school and conference-record 11 blocked shots in a Feb. 6 win over Long Beach State. 

Ndiaye, who averaged 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds, earned the 2014 Big West Conference Best Defensive Player award and he was also named to the honorable mention squad.  He shot 70.7 percent from the floor.

Other returning starters for the 'Eaters are sophomore guard Luke Nelson, senior forward Will Davis II and junior guard Alex Young.

Nelson, the 2014 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, led the 'Eaters in scoring (11.8), three-point field goals (74) and steals (38).  He was also selected to the All-Big West Second Team.  Nelson was named Big West Player of the Week in February after helping UCI to wins over Long Beach State and UC Davis.  He scored a career-high 28 points in the Feb. 6 victory over Long Beach State.

Davis led UCI in rebounding for the second straight season with an average of 6.4 boards per game and he averaged 11.0 points. 

He was named All-Big West honorable mention as well as to the 2014 Big West All-Tournament team, and he ranked third in the conference in field-goal percentage for the season at .567.  Davis earned Big West Player of the Week honors last November after scoring 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting in an 86-72 win at Washington.

Young was 58th nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 2.3.  He averaged 8.9 points and led the 'Eaters with 161 assists en route to All-Big West honorable mention recognition.  After just two seasons, Young ranks No. 7 in Anteater history with 305 career assists.

UCI ended last season ranked No. 3 nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.374), fourth in total blocked shots (224), fifth in blocked shots per game (6.4), 19th in assists per game (15.6), and 38th in scoring defense (63.7) and field-goal percentage (.470).

In games from Feb. 1 through the end of the season, the 'Eaters ranked No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .339.  The next-nearest team was Vermont at .363.

Turner, currently in his fifth year at UCI, was named 2014 Big West Conference and NABC District 9 Coach of the Year.

The Anteaters open their 2014-15 schedule Nov. 8 facing Simon Fraser University (Canada) in an exhibition game at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.

UCI opens the regular season Nov. 14 versus Chapman (7:00 p.m.) and Nov. 16 against Pacific (3:00 p.m.) in the Bren.


Big West Preseason Media Poll

1.	UC Irvine (20)	221
2.	UC Santa Barbara (2)	195
3.	Long Beach State (3)	180
4.	CSUN (1)	165
5.	Hawai'i	119
6.	Cal Poly	109
7.	UC Davis	79
8.	Cal State Fullerton	64
9.	UC Riverside	38

( ) First Place votes 

Big West Preseason All-Conference Team

Mamadou Ndiaye, UC Irvine, So., C
Mike Caffey, Long Beach State, Sr., G
Isaac Fotu, Hawai'i, Jr., F
Corey Hawkins, UC Davis, Sr., G
Stephen Maxwell, CSUN, Sr., F
Alan Williams, UC Santa Barbara, Sr., C

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