Game #16

UC Riverside (8-7, 1-0) at UC Irvine (7-8, 0-1)
Saturday, January 10, 2015 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.

Series Record:  UCI leads 33-23
Last Meeting:  UCI won 64-43 (3/13/14 in Anaheim)

Radio:  KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
TV:  ESPN3 (Trent Schlom, Richie Schueler, Sanaz Tavassol)


Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets

'EATERS HOST HIGHLANDERS:  Coach Russell Turner's UC Irvine squad (7-8, 0-1) hosts UC Riverside in a Big West Conference game Saturday night in the Bren Events Center.

This is the 57^th meeting in the series with UCI leading 33-23.   The Anteaters, who have won the last four games in the series, won all three meetings last season, including 64-43, in the first round of the Big West Tournament at the Honda Center last March 13.

UCI is coming off an 88-82 home loss to Long Beach State Thursday night.  Junior guard Alex Young led the Anteaters with a career-high 24 points.

UC Riverside (8-7, 1-0) defeated Cal State Fullerton, 84-78, in overtime Thursday night in Riverside.  Taylor Johns led the Highlanders with 29 points.

3 STRAIGHT LOOM ON THE ROAD:  Following Saturday night's game, UCI plays three straight road contests beginning Thursday night at Cal State Fullerton.  The 'Eaters travel to CSUN Jan. 22 and Hawai'i Jan. 24.

DEFEND THE BREN:  The 'Eaters are 143-54 (.726) in the Bren Events Center dating back to February 2000.  UCI has won 30 of its last 37 (.811) games in the Bren Center.  The 'Eaters are 224-151 all-time in the Bren and 4-2 this season.

The Bren Center opened 28 years ago this past Thursday night (1/8/87) when Scott Brooks (current OKC Thunder head coach) scored 43 points in a 118-96 win over Utah State.

ANTEATER NOTES

● Senior forward Will Davis II has 696 career rebounds to rank No. 7 all-time at UCI.  Davis has 1,106 points to rank 21^st in the Anteater record book.  He is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 190.  Davis is one of four UCI players averaging in double figures at 10.8 points per game and he leads the team in rebounding with a 5.6 average.

● Junior guard Alex Young is fourth in UCI history with 361 career assists.  Young scored a career-high 24 points in Thursday's loss to Long Beach State, hitting 8 of 13 shots.  Young was named Most Outstanding Player of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas Dec. 21-22.  He hit the game-winning jumper with 1.7 seconds left in the 72-70 championship win over Green Bay.  Young also was named Big West Player of the Week after that performance.  He had a season-high eight assists in the Dec. 22 win over Green Bay and a career-high six steals in the Dec. 13 loss to UT Arlington, including five in the first 5:16 of the game.

● Young, who leads UCI in scoring at 11.7 points per game, has averaged 15.2 points and 5.2 assists in the last five games.  He leads UCI with 25 steals this season and ranks 18^th in UCI history with 89 for his career.   Young has scored 828 career points.

● Sophomore guard Jaron Martin has made his first collegiate starts in the last seven games, scoring in twin digits in four of those contests.  Martin, who had a career-high four assists in Thursday's loss to Long Beach State, was named to the South Point Holiday Hoops All-Classic team in Las Vegas Dec. 21-22.

● Senior guard Travis Souza leads the 'Eaters with 31 threes on the season and has hit 18 of 33 in the past seven games.  He has 106 career threes to rank 16^th in UCI history.  Souza had a career-high five assists in Thursday's loss to Long Beach State.

● Senior post John Ryan, who has started the last 10 games, is shooting 62.3 percent from the field.

● 7-6 sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye played for the first time in 10 games Thursday night against Long Beach State. He recorded seven points and four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.  Ndiaye had been sidelined with a sprained foot.

● Junior guard Dominique Dunning recorded his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the Dec. 31 win over Hampden-Sydney.  The 10 rebounds marked a career high, as did his three assists.

● Junior forward Mike Best scored a season-high 10 points, hitting 5 of 6 from the field, in the Dec. 31 win over Hampden-Sydney.

● Junior guard Aaron Wright scored a season-high 11 points in last Saturday's loss at New Mexico State and recorded a career-high four steals in the Dec. 29 loss at Oregon. He had five assists against Long Beach State Thursday.

● UCI won the title of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas Dec. 21-22, defeating Bradley, 55-47, and Green Bay, 72-70.

ON THIS DATE 13 YEARS AGO

● On this date 13 years ago, Jan. 10, 2002, Jerry Green hit a left-side jumper as time expired to lift UC Irvine over Utah State, 67-66, in a Big West game at Logan, Utah.

● Green, who scored 31 points, took an inbounds pass with 4.8 seconds left and drove the court to hit the fallaway jumper at the buzzer, snapping the Aggies' school-record, 31-game home winning streak.

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