EXHIBITION GAME
Simon Fraser University at UC Irvine
Saturday, November 8, 2014 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, California
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
● UC Irvine opens its 2014-15 schedule Saturday night, hosting Simon Fraser University in an exhibition game at the Bren Events Center.
● Simon Fraser, located in Burnaby, British Columbia, is Canada's first NCAA (Division II) school and is a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
● Simon Fraser lost at Idaho, 139-115, in an exhibition game last Friday night. Senior guard Sango Niang led the Clan with 27 points and 13 assists. Of SFU's 93 field-goal attempts, 51 were from three-point range.
● The Anteaters have been picked to win the Big West Conference for the second straight year in the league's preseason media poll. UCI also has been selected to finish first in the conference by multiple publications.
● Fifth-year head coach Russell Turner's UCI squad opens the regular season hosting Chapman next Friday (Nov. 14) night at 7:00 in the Bren Center. Former Big West member Pacific visits the Bren for a 3:00 p.m. contest Nov. 16.
● UCI is beginning its 50th season of men's basketball as the reigning Big West Conference regular-season champion.
● Russell 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.
● 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.
● 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.
● Chris McNealy was the lone senior on UCI's roster last season and was recently drafted by the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Skyforce in the NBA Development League Draft.
● McNealy was an All-Big West Conference first team member as a senior at UCI last season, when he was also voted team's Most Outstanding Player. He averaged 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and had 75 assists and 28 steals as a senior for the 'Eaters.
● McNealy, who played in a school-record 135 games in his UCI career, ranks eighth in career steals (103), 11th in three-point field goals (131), 13th in assists (277), 18th in points (1,207) and 21st in rebounds (518) in the Anteater record book.
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