CSUN (7-21, 2-10) at UC Irvine (15-10, 8-3)
Saturday, February 21, 2015 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, California
Series Record: UCI leads 29-24
Last Meeting: UCI won 80-49 (1/22/15 in Northridge)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets
UCI HOSTS CSUN: Coach Russell Turner's UC Irvine squad (15-10, 8-3) hosts CSUN Saturday night in a Big West Conference game.
The Anteaters, coming off a 75-60 win over Hawai'i Thursday night, remain in second place in the Big West, two games behind league-leading UC Davis (10-1) with five games left in the regular season.
DEFEND THE BREN: UC Irvine has won 34 of its last 42 games (.810) in the Bren Events Center and is 147-55 (.728) dating back to February 2000.
The Bren Center opened Jan. 8, 1987, when Scott Brooks (current OKC Thunder head coach) scored 43 points in a 118-96 win over Utah State.
UCI-CSUN SERIES: UCI leads the series with CSUN, 29-24, including an 80-49 win at Northridge Jan. 22.
Luke Nelson led the 'Eaters with 16 points and Travis Souza scored 15, all in the first half. Aaron Parks led the Matadors with 18.
The 80-49 win over CSUN Jan. 22 was UCI's largest margin of victory over an NCAA Division I school since a 33-point win over Harvard (and Jeremy Lin), 81-48, Dec. 28, 2006, and the largest margin of victory in a Big West game for the Anteaters since a 92-54 win at Idaho Jan. 12, 2002.
'EATERS TOP HAWAII: UCI, behind season highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds from Will Davis II, defeated Hawai'i, 75-60, in the Bren Center Thursday night. Travis Souza added 15 points, hitting 5 of 7 threes, as the 'Eaters broke away from a 29-29 halftime tie.
ANTEATER NOTES
● Dating back to Dec. 22, 2011, UC Irvine is 44-0 when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 11-0 this season.
● As of Friday, UCI ranks seventh in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage at .411, 22nd in blocked shots per game (5.3), 32nd in total blocked shots (132), 40th in field-goal percentage (.469) and 44th in field-goal percentage defense (.396).
● Senior forward Will Davis II is the third player in Big West history to reach 200 career blocks as he is UCI's career leader with 205. He leads the Big West in field-goal percentage at .537 for all games. Davis is just the sixth player in the 50-year history of UCI basketball to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds. He is tied for fifth (with Mike Heckman) in Anteater history with 768 rebounds and is 12th with 1,254 points. He leads the team with a 12.4 scoring average and also in rebounding at 6.2 boards per game.
● Sophomore guard Luke Nelson tied his career high with eight assists in Thursday's win over Hawai'i and added 13 points and five rebounds. He ranks third in the Big West at 3.95 assists per game. Nelson scored a season-high 19 points against Saint Mary's and UT Arlington. He has been wearing a protective mask due to a facial injury sustained in practice in late December. Nelson was Big West Conference Freshman of the Year last season.
● Senior guard Travis Souza leads the 'Eaters with 54 threes on the season and has 129 for his career to rank 12th in UCI history. Souza leads the Big West in three-point percentage (.521) in league games and tied his career with five treys in Thursday's win over Hawai'i. He scored a career-high 17 points in the Jan. 29 win over Cal Poly.
● Junior guard Aaron Wright is second on the team with 22 steals, recording a career-high four in the Dec. 29 loss at Oregon. He tied his season high with five assists in the Feb. 7 win at LBSU and scored a season-high 11 points in the Jan. 3 loss at New Mexico State. He has 10 assists in the last three games, all starts for him.
● Sophomore guard Jaron Martin had a career –high five assists in Thursday's win over Hawai'i. He is tied for second in the Big West in three-point field goal percentage at .486 and he is second on the team with 34 treys this season. Martin scored a career-high 16 points in the Jan. 10 win over UC Riverside and tied his career high with four threes in that game. Martin was named to the South Point Holiday Hoops All-Classic team in Las Vegas Dec. 21-22.
● Junior guard Dominique Dunning snared eight rebounds in 23 reserve minutes of Thursday's win over Hawai'i. He recorded his first double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the Dec. 31 win over Hampden-Sydney.
● Junior forward Mike Best made his second start of the season Thursday night against Hawai'i. He scored a season-high 10 points, hitting 5 of 6 from the field, in the Dec. 31 win over Hampden-Sydney.
● Sophomore post Ioannis Dimakopoulos had eight points and three rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench against Hawai'i Thursday. He scored a season-high 11 points in the Dec. 6 win over Sacramento State.
● Senior post John Ryan, who has started 19 games this season, sustained an injury to his right foot at Riverside last Saturday. He is shooting 56.6 percent from the field and leads the team with 33 blocked shots. He tied his career high with 10 rebounds in the Feb. 7 win at LBSU.
● Junior guard Alex Young has missed the last three games due to a left-foot injury sustained in the UC Davis game Feb. 5. He is fourth in UCI history with 384 career assists. He leads UCI with 32 steals this season and is 14th in UCI history with 96 for his career. Young has scored 885 career points.
● 7-6 sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye has not played in the last nine games (left foot) and has missed a total of 18 for the season. Ndiaye scored a career-high 21 points in the Nov. 29 win at Loyola Marymount, hitting 10 of 11 from the field.
ON THIS DATE
● On this date 34 years ago, Feb. 21, 1981, UC Irvine set the NCAA Division I record for free-throw percentage (1.000), hitting 34 of 34 in a 90-82 win over Pacific at Crawford Hall.
● Jason Works was 11 of 11 from the line en route to 25 points while two-time All-American Kevin Magee added 22 points and 11 rebounds.
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