GAME #30
Cal Poly (10-17, 6-8) at UC Irvine (19-10, 10-3)  
Saturday, March 1, 2014 – 8:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, California

Series Record:  UCI leads 23-20
Last Meeting:  UCI won 64-50 (1/2/14 in San Luis Obispo)

Radio:  KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 20^th Season, & Steve Henkle)
TV:  ESPNU (Steve Quis, Bill Herenda)

TICKETS

AUDIO / VIDEO / LIVE STATS


UC IRVINE HOSTS CAL POLY SATURDAY NIGHT

● UC Irvine, 19-10 overall and 10-3 in the Big West, hosts Cal Poly Saturday night.  The Anteaters regained sole possession of first place in the conference with a 71-60 win over UC Santa Barbara Thursday.  Chris McNealy's 17 points led four UCI players in double figures as he was 5 of 5 from the field (2 of 2 on threes) and 5 of 5 on free throws.  The 'Eaters hit 24 of 30 free throws in the victory.

● Fourth-year head coach Russell Turner's Anteaters have won 12 of their last 15 games this season and 15 of their last 19 Big West games dating back to Feb. 13 of last year.

● UCI's 19-10 record is the program's best overall mark after 29 games in 11 years, since the 2002-03 team was 20-9.  The 10-3 conference record is the best for the Anteaters since the 2005-06 team was also 10-3 after 13 league games.

● UCI has won 24 of its last 29 games in the Bren Events Center.  The 'Eaters are 137-52 (.725) in the Bren dating back to February 2000.  UCI is 218-149 all-time in the Bren and 10-4 this season.

● This is the 44^th meeting in the series between UCI and Cal Poly with the 'Eaters holding a 23-20 lead.  UCI won 64-50 in San Luis Obispo Feb. 1 as Luke Nelson scored 15 points and Alex Young 14.  Mike Best recorded 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.  Chris Eversley led the Mustangs with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

● UCI travels to Cal State Fullerton Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. game at Titan Gym before hosting UC Davis next Saturday (4:30 p.m., Prime Ticket) in the regular-season finale.

● The 2014 Big West Tournament is Mar. 13-15 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.


UC IRVINE NOTES

● UCI was ranked 22^nd in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll that was released Monday and UCSB was ranked No. 13.  Wichita State remained No. 1 in the poll.

● Defense has been primary to UCI's success as the 'Eaters are 17-0 overall and 9-0 in Big West games when holding the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field.  As of Friday, UCI is seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (.381).

● The 'Eaters are ninth nationally in blocked shots per game (6.3), 13^th in assists per game (16.3) and 36^th in field-goal percentage (.474).

● UCI is 12-0 this season when limiting the opposition to less than 60 points and 16-3 when outrebounding its opponents.

● 7-6 freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye, the nation's tallest player, ranks ninth in the nation with 87 total blocks and he is 11^th in the country in blocked shots per game with an average of 3.11. His 87 blocks this season are one shy of the single-season school record of 88 set by teammate Will Davis II last season.  The Big West Conference single-season record is 89 blocked shots by UCSB's Eric McArthur in 1989-90.

● 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 leads UCI in scoring at 12.3 points and threes with 63.  He has hit 7 of 14 threes in the past two games.  Nelson earned Big West Player of the Week honors Feb. 10 after scoring a career-high 28 points in the Feb. 6 win over Long Beach State and hitting the go-ahead basket in the come-from-behind win at UC Davis Feb. 8.  

● Senior guard Chris McNealy has scored 1,163 points in his career to rank 18^th in UCI history. He has 500 career rebounds as he has become the 17^th player in Anteater history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

● McNealy ranks 11^th at UCI with 126 career threes, 12^th in steals (98) and 13^th with 273 assists.

● Junior forward Will Davis II leads UCI in rebounding at 6.4 boards per game and he is averaging 10.4 points.  He ranks fourth in the Big West in field-goal percentage at .563 for all games.

● Davis is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 169, including a school single-season record 88 last year.  He ranks 17^th in school history with 573 rebounds and he has scored 862 points in his UCI career. 

● 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.

● Sophomore point guard Alex Young has 69 assists in the last 12 games and he leads UCI with 136, and he also tops the team with 34 steals.  He is second in the Big West in assists (5.46 per game) for league games.  He tied his career high with nine assists against Cal State Fullerton Jan. 16.  After just 66 career games, Young ranks 12^th in UCI history with 280 assists.  He tied his career high with five steals at Northridge last Saturday.

● 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 was selected to the Mid-Major Freshman All-America team.

● Sophomore Dominique Dunning scored a career-high 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the Feb. 15 win over UC Riverside.  He added four rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench.

● Redshirt sophomore forward Mike Best made his second start of the season at Cal Poly Feb. 1 and responded with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

● Junior post John Ryan had six points, three rebounds and two assists in 15 reserve minutes at Northridge last Saturday.  Ryan is shooting 57.8 percent from the field.

● Sophomore guard Aaron Wright has averaged 6.4 points off the bench in the last five games.


ABOUT CAL POLY                                  

● Fifth-year head coach Joe Callero's Mustangs are 10-17 overall and 6-8 in the Big West following an 85-73 loss at UC Davis Thursday night.

● Senior forward Chris Eversley leads Cal Poly in scoring (13.8), rebounding (7.5) and steals (37).

● Sophomore wing David Nwaba is averaging 11.6 points and 4.6 rebounds.

● Cal Poly leads the Big West in scoring defense for league games, allowing an average of 64.8 points per game.