UC Irvine (13-9, 6-2) at Long Beach State (13-11, 7-1)
Saturday, February 7, 2015 – 4:00 p.m.
Walter Pyramid (4,200) – Long Beach, California

Series Record:  LBSU leads 56-37
Last Meeting:  LBSU won 88-82 (1/8/15 in Irvine)

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

Audio / Video / Live Stats



UCI MEETS LBSU SATURDAY:  UC Irvine (13-9, 6-2) opens the second half of the Big West Conference schedule Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Long Beach State (13-11, 7-1) in a Black & Blue Rivalry game at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach on ESPN3.  UCI is 3-0 in Big West  road games this season.

The Anteaters fell out of a tie for first in the Big West after a 75-56 loss to UC Davis at the Bren Events Center Thursday night.  The Aggies and LBSU are tied for first with their 7-1 league marks while UCI follows at 6-2.

Senior forward Will Davis II led the 'Eaters with 18 points in Thursday's loss while Josh Ritchart led UC Davis with 22. UCI shot a season-low 30.4 percent from the field and the Aggies hit 53.8 percent, including 7 of 10 on threes.  The defeat snapped UCI's six-game winning streak.

UCI-LBSU SERIES:  Long Beach State leads the series with UCI, 56-37.  The 49ers broke a four-game losing streak against the 'Eaters with an 88-82 win at the Bren Center in the conference opener Jan. 8.

Alex Young scored a career-high 24 points and Will Davis II added 13 for UCI. 

Mike Caffey led LBSU with 27 points and McKay LaSalle added 16.  Both players hit five threes in the win as the 49ers outscored the 'Eaters 23-10 in the final 3:45. 

WEEK OFF BEFORE HIGHLANDERS:  Following Saturday's game at LBSU, UCI is idle from competition until traveling to UC Riverside next Saturday (Feb. 14) for a 5:00 p.m. game against the Highlanders on ESPN3.

ANTEATER NOTES

● Dating back to Dec. 22, 2011, UC Irvine is 42-0 when holding the opposition to 60 points or less.

● As of Friday, UCI ranks 11^th in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage at .408, 24^th in blocked shots per game (5.2) and 28^th in field-goal percentage (.475) and total blocked shots (115).  The 'Eaters' 10 blocked shots Thursday night marked the team's second-highest total of the season.

● The Anteaters' six-game winning streak prior to Thursday's loss to UC Davis was the program's longest since winning eight straight games in January 2006.

● Senior forward Will Davis II is just the sixth player in the 50-year history of UCI basketball to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.  Davis ranks sixth in Anteater history with 746 rebounds and he is 19^th with 1,200 points.  He is UCI's career leader in blocked shots with 198.  Davis leads the team with an 11.6 scoring average and also in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game.  Davis ranks second in the Big West in field-goal percentage at .527.

● Junior guard Alex Young is fourth in UCI history with 384 career assists.  He ranks third on the team in scoring average at 10.6 points per game.  He leads UCI with 32 steals this season and is 14^th in UCI history with 96 for his career.  Young has scored 885 career points.  He injured his left foot midway through the first half of Thursday's game and did not return.

● Sophomore guard Luke Nelson, who is averaging 10.3 points, tied his career high with eight assists in the Jan. 29 win over Cal Poly.  Nelson was Big West Conference Freshman of the Year last season.

● Senior guard Travis Souza leads the 'Eaters with 47 threes on the season and has hit 16 of 31 in the past seven games.  He has 122 career threes to rank 12^th in UCI history.  Souza ranks third in the Big West in three-point field goal percentage at .480 on the season and has hit 51.4 percent in league games.   He scored a career-high 17 points in the Jan. 22 win at CSUN.

● Senior post John Ryan had a career-high 10 rebounds in the Jan. 24 win at Hawai'i.  He had nine boards in Thursday's loss to UC Davis.  Ryan, who had five blocked shots against UC Davis Thursday, leads UCI with 31 for the season.  He is shooting 55.9 percent from the field for the season.

● Sophomore guard Jaron Martin has hit 13 of 22 threes in the last seven games and he ranks second in the Big West in three-point field goal percentage at .492.  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, who tied his career high with four assists in last Saturday's win over UCSB, was named to the South Point Holiday Hoops All-Classic team in Las Vegas Dec. 21-22.

● Junior guard Dominique Dunning has averaged 6.7 points off the bench in the last four games and is 12 of 19 from the field in the past five contests.  He recorded his first double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the Dec. 31 win over Hampden-Sydney.

● Junior guard Aaron Wright is second on the team with 20 steals and is 7 of 13 from three-point range for the season.  Wright scored a season-high 11 points in the Jan. 3 loss at New Mexico State and recorded a career-high four steals in the Dec. 29 loss at Oregon.

● Sophomore post Ioannis Dimakopoulos scored nine points in last Saturday's win over UCSB and had six points and three boards versus UC Davis Thursday.  He is 12 of 21 from the field in the past six games.  He scored a season-high 11 points in the Dec. 6 win over Sacramento State.

● 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.

● 7-6 sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye has missed the last six games (left foot) after playing in the previous two contests.  Ndiaye, who has missed 15 games this season, 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. 7, 1981, UC Irvine defeated Utah State, 117-110 in overtime, at Crawford Hall.

● Two-time All-American Kevin Magee scored 40 points and grabbed 22 rebounds (second-most in UCI history).

● Jason Works added 28 points, hitting 10 of 10 free throws, including 8 of 8 in overtime.

_________________________________________________________