GAME #1
Chapman (0-0) at UC Irvine (0-0)
Friday, November 14, 2014 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, California
GAME #2
Pacific at UC Irvine
Sunday, November 16, 2014 – 3:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, California
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
Tickets
Audio / Video / Live Stats
● UC Irvine opens its 50th year of basketball hosting Chapman Friday night and Pacific Sunday afternoon in the Bren Events Center.
● The Anteaters are 35-14 all-time in home openers and 22-27 in season openers.
● UCI is 20-4 in the series record versus Chapman and 37-43 against former Big West Conference member Pacific.
● The last time that the 'Eaters faced Chapman in a regular-season game was Dec. 14, 1982, when Bill Mulligan's UCI squad defeated the Panthers, 104-88, at Crawford Hall.
● Pacific, which left the Big West Conference to join the West Coast Conference following the 2012-13 season, has won the past three meetings versus UCI, including 84-79 in Stockton last season (11/12/13). The Tigers topped the Anteaters, 64-55, in the championship game of the 2013 Big West Tournament. Pacific plays at Western Illinois Friday evening.
● The 'Eaters are 139-52 (.728) in the Bren Events Center dating back to February 2000. UCI is 220-149 all-time in the Bren and was 12-4 last season. UCI has won 26 of its last 31 (.839) games in the Bren Center.
● UCI has been picked to win the Big West Conference for the second straight year in the league's preseason media poll. The 'Eaters also have been selected to finish first in the conference by multiple publications.
● Fifth-year head coach Russell Turner's UCI squad travels to No. 2 Arizona Wednesday night for a 6:00 p.m. (PT) game that will be carried on the Pac-12 Networks.
● Turner, in his fifth season as the Anteaters' head coach, was named 2014 Big West Conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches District 9 Coach of the Year.
NDIAYE RECOGNIZED
● UCI 7-6 sophomore center
Mamadou Ndiaye has been named to the 2015 Lou Henson Award Watch List that features preseason candidates for the Division I Mid-Major Player of the Year award.
● Ndiaye, who set UCI and Big West Conference records with 106 blocked shots last season, was also named to the preseason all-conference team by the media.
LOOKING BACK AT 2013-14
● UCI returns four starters off last season's team that finished 23-12 overall and 13-3 in the Big West, winning the program's first conference regular-season title in 12 years. The 13 league wins were the most for UCI in the past 11 years.
● Defense was a major factor in UCI's success last season, as in the final NCAA statistics, the Anteaters ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .374, fourth in total blocked shots with a school-record 224 and fifth in blocked shots per game at 6.4.
● In games from Feb. 1 through the end of last season, UCI was the No. 1 team in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .339. The next team in the rankings was at 36.3 percent.
● UCI' 23 wins last season tied for second-most in program history. UCI, under head coach Russell Turner, has won 44 games over the last two seasons, advancing to the postseason both years. The Anteaters competed in the 2014 NIT, losing at eventual tournament runner-up SMU in the first round.
● The 'Eaters were 19th in the nation last season in assists per game at 15.6, and 38th in scoring defense at 63.7 and in field-goal percentage at .470.
● Last season, UCI was 16-0 when holding the opponents to less than 60 points and 21-1 when limiting the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field. The 'Eaters were 12-4 in the Bren Center last season and have won 26 of their last 31 games at home.
● Senior forward Will Davis II was named to the 2014 Big West All-Tournament Team and also received Big West honorable mention recognition. Davis led UCI in rebounding for the second straight season with an average of 6.4 boards per game, he averaged 11 points, and he ranked third in the Big West in field-goal percentage at 56.7 percent. He is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 174.
● Davis, who is tied for 11th (with Adam Folker) in UCI career rebounds with 612, needs 56 points to become the 24th member of the 1,000th-point club at UCI.
● Guard Luke Nelson was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and also to the All-Big West second team after he led the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game. Nelson also led UCI with 74 three-point field goals and 38 steals.
● 7-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, the nation's tallest player, was named the Best Defensive Player in the Big West as a freshman last season after he set the UCI and Big West Conference single-season records with 106 blocked shots. Ndiaye also was named to the All-Big West honorable mention squad. He was selected to this season's All-Big West preseason team.
● Guard Alex Young ranked 58th nationally with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.3 as a sophomore last season. He earned Big West Honorable Mention recognition after leading UCI with 161 assists. After just two seasons, Young ranks No. 7 in UCI history with 305 career assists.
● The Anteaters' contingent of returning players this season also includes senior post John Ryan (4.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg), junior guard Dominique Dunning (4.3 ppg), junior guard Aaron Wright (4.1 ppg), senior guard Travis Souza (3.5 ppg, 33 threes), junior forward Mike Best (2.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg), sophomore center Ioannis Dimakopoulos (2.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg), junior guard Reed McConnell (1.1 ppg), sophomore guard Jaron Martin (1.1 ppg) along with junior forward Shawn Ray, who was a redshirt last season.
THE NEWCOMERS
● Three freshmen have joined the Anteaters' program this season.
● Jonathan Galloway is a 6-10 forward from Salesian High School, Haroldas Saprykinas is a 6-1 guard from Lithuania (and West Oaks Academy, Fla.), and Spencer Rivers is a 6-2 guard from Winter Park (Fla.) High and the son of L.A. Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.
FOUR SIGN WITH ANTEATERS
UCI head coach Russell Turner and his staff have landed an impressive quartet of recruits in its signing class of 2015.
The Anteaters' program will be bolstered with the addition of current prep seniors Max Hazzard, Brandon Smith, Darrian Traylor and Justin Wertner.
Hazzard is an ESPN three-star point guard from Loyola High School in Los Angeles and the grandson of former UCLA head coach and Los Angeles Lakers standout Walt Hazzard. Max Hazzard selected UCI over schools such as Cal Poly, Loyola Marymount, San Jose State and Brown. His brother, Jacob, plays at Arizona.
Smith is a 6-5 wing who averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds for Godinez High in Santa Ana last season when he earned All-Orange Coast League honors.
Traylor is an ESPN three-star shooting guard out of Centennial High in Las Vegas, Nev. The 6-3 Traylor chose UCI over Utah State, Weber State, San Francisco, Northern Colorado and Brown.
Wertner, a 6-5 shooting guard, is an ESPN three-star recruit from Saint George's Independent School in Collierville, Tenn. He is planning to serve a two-year Latter-day Saints Mission before joining the UCI program in the summer of 2017.
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