GAME #27
UC Irvine (17-9, 8-2) at Hawai'i (18-7, 7-4)
Thursday, February 20, 2014 – 7:00 p.m. HST
Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) – Honolulu, Hawaii
Series Record: Tied 5-5
Last Meeting: Hawai'i won 90-86 OT (1/25/14 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 20th Season)
Audio / Video / Live Stats
UC IRVINE ON THE ROAD TO HAWAI'I, CSUN
● UC Irvine, 17-9 overall and 8-2 to lead the Big West Conference, travels to Hawai'i Thursday and Cal State Northridge Saturday in conference road tests. UCI has six league games remaining in the tightly-contested race.
● Fourth-year head coach Russell Turner's Anteaters have won four straight and 10 of their last 12 games. UCI is coming off a 70-52 win over UC Riverside last Saturday as sophomore Dominique Dunning scored a career-high 20 points in 13 minutes off the bench.
● UCI's 17-9 record is the program's best overall mark after 26 games in 11 years, since the 2002-03 team was 18-8. The 8-2 conference start is the best for the Anteaters since the 2005-06 team opened 9-1.
● UCI has won 13 of its last 16 Big West games dating back to Feb. 13 of last year.
● This is the 11th meeting in the series between UCI and Hawai'i with each team having five wins. The Rainbow Warriors spoiled UCI's Homecoming night, 90-86, in overtime Jan. 25. Isaac Fotu led the 'Bows with 30 points, hitting 13 of 16 shots. Point guard Keith Shamburger added 17 points and 11 assists, plus hit the game-tying three at the end of regulation. Alex Young led six UCI players in double figures with 14 points and he added a career-high five steals.
● UCI is 8-5 on the road this season, the most road victories for the program since the 2005-06 team was 8-4. The 'Eaters are 4-1 on the road in Big West games this season, UCI's best mark since the 2005-06 squad was 6-1 in league road games.
● Following this week's trip, UCI plays three of its final four Big West games at home, beginning with UC Santa Barbara next Thursday night. UCI's home game against Cal Poly next Saturday (Mar. 1) has an 8:00 p.m. start and will be televised on ESPNU.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● UCI remained 21st in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 13 and Wichita State remains No. 1 in the poll.
● UCI is 16-0 overall and 8-0 in Big West games when holding the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field.
● The 'Eaters are 11-0 when limiting the opposition to less than 60 points and 14-3 when outrebounding their opponents.
● As of Monday, of 345 teams ranked, UCI is seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (.381), eighth in blocked shots per game (6.5), ninth in assists per game (16.7) and 25th in field-goal percentage (.477).
● The 'Eaters rank first in the Big West in field-goal percentage (.477), field-goal percentage defense (.381), assists per game (16.7) and blocked shots per game (6.5). UCI is second in the league in rebounding margin (+3.7) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.29).
● 7-6 freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye, the nation's tallest player, ranks fourth in the nation with 84 total blocks and he is seventh in the country in blocked shots per game with an average of 3.36. His 84 blocks this season are four shy of the single-season school record of 88 set by teammate Will Davis II last season.
● Ndiaye broke his own single-game school and Big West Conference record with 11 blocked shots in the 61-58 win over Long Beach State Feb. 6.
● Over a six-game span from Jan. 2-25, Ndiaye made 25 straight field goals, one shy of the national record.
● Freshman guard Luke Nelson, last week's Big West Player of the Week, scored a career-high 28 points in the Feb. 6 win over Long Beach State and hit the go-ahead basket in the come-from-behind win at UC Davis Feb. 8. Nelson leads UCI in scoring at 12.1 points per game and tops the team with 54 threes.
● In Big West games, Nelson ranks fourth in free-throw percentage (.833) and three-point field goals made per game (2.30).
● Senior guard Chris McNealy has scored 1,123 points in his career to rank 20th in UCI history. He has 488 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 121 career threes, 12th in steals (97) and 13th with 267 assists.
● Junior forward Will Davis II leads UCI in rebounding at 6.4 boards per game and he is averaging 10.3 points. He ranks second in the Big West in field-goal percentage at .586 for all games.
● Davis is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 165, including a school single-season record 88 last year. He ranks 17th in school history with 555 rebounds and he has scored 828 points in his UCI career.
● Sophomore point guard Alex Young has 51 assists in the last nine games and he leads UCI with 118. He is second in the Big West in assists (5.30 per game) for league games. He tied his career high with nine assists against Cal State Fullerton Jan. 16. After just 63 career games, Young ranks 14th in UCI history with 262 assists.
● Sophomore Dominique Dunning has averaged 15.5 points in the last two games after scoring a career-high 20 on 8-of-9 shooting in last Saturday's win over UC Riverside. He added four rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench.
● Redshirt sophomore forward Mike Best had seven points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in nine reserve minutes against UC Riverside last Saturday. He made his second start of the season at Cal Poly Feb. 1 and responded with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
● UCI has won 23 of its last 28 games in the Bren Events Center. The 'Eaters are 136-52 (.723) in the Bren dating back to February 2000. UCI is 217-149 all-time in the Bren and 9-4 this season.
ABOUT HAWAI'I
● Fourth-year head coach Gib Arnold's Rainbow Warriors are 18-7 overall and 7-4 in the Big West, winning their last three games.
● Senior center Christian Standhardinger is averaging 17.6 points and 8.1 rebounds while sophomore Isaac Fotu is averaging 15.8 points and 6.1 boards.
● Junior guard Keith Shamburger leads the Big West in assists at 5.40 per game. He is second in the league in free-throw percentage (.824) and in assist/turnover ratio (2.76).
● Hawai'i leads the Big West in scoring offense (81.4), scoring margin (+8.6) and rebounding margin (+5.3).
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