GAME #29
Cal State Fullerton (9-20, 1-13) at UC Irvine (17-11, 10-4)
Thursday, March 5, 2015 - 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, California
SERIES RECORD: CSF leads 52-48
LAST MEETING: UCI won 63-58 (1/15/15 in Fullerton)
RADIO: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets
SENIOR NIGHT AT THE BREN EVENTS CENTER: Coach Russell Turner's UC Irvine squad hosts Cal State Fullerton Thursday night at the Bren Events Center in the regular-season home finale.
The Anteaters, 17-11 overall and 10-4 in the Big West Conference, are in second place in the league, two games behind UC Davis and one ahead of UC Santa Barbara. UCI plays at UC Davis Saturday night. UCI split on the road last week, defeating Cal Poly, 63-56, and losing to UC Santa Barbara, 54-51.
Prior to Thursday night's game, UCI will honor its three seniors: Will Davis II, John Ryan and Travis Souza. Senior team managers Tony Lam and Alex Juhan will also be recognized.
FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT: In appreciation of the fans, drawstring bags will be distributed to the first 2,500 in attendance Thursday night. The first 300 students in attendance will also receive a gold T-shirt courtesy of SportClips.
UCI-CSF SERIES: Thursday night marks the 101st meeting in the UCI-Fullerton series, with the Titans holding a 52-48 lead. The Anteaters have won the last six meetings, including 63-58 at Titan Gym Jan. 15.
Will Davis II scored 21 points and UCI withstood a late Fullerton rally as the 'Eaters went scoreless for 9 ½ minutes in the second half. Alex Harris led the Titans with 17 points.
BIG WEST TOURNEY NEXT WEEK: The Big West Tournament is at the Honda Center in Anaheim next Thursday through Saturday (Mar. 12-14).
DEFEND THE BREN: UC Irvine has won 35 of its last 43 games (.814) in the Bren Events Center and is 148-55 (.729) 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.
ANTEATER NOTES
● As of Wednesday, UCI ranks ninth in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage at .403, 34th in blocked shots per game (4.9), 38th in field-goal percentage (.469), 40th in field-goal percentage defense (.395), and 43rd in total blocked shots (138).
● For all games, UCI leads the Big West in field-goal percentage defense (.395) and blocked shots per game (4.93). The Anteaters are second in scoring margin (+6.1), field-goal percentage (.469), three-point field-goal percentage (.403), scoring defense (62.1), rebounding margin (+1.8), assists per game (14.32) and assist/turnover ratio (1.18).
● UC Irvine has won 46 of its last 47 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less and is 13-1 in those games this season.
● Senior forward Will Davis II has led UCI in scoring in three of the last four games, and five of the past seven. In the last seven games, he has averaged 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds. Davos is the third player in Big West history to reach 200 career blocks as he is UCI's career leader with 207. He is the sixth player in the 50-year history of UCI basketball to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds. He is third in Anteater history with 795 rebounds and 10th with 1,304 points. Davis has four double-doubles this season and 13 in his career. He leads the Big West in field-goal percentage for all games at .535 (42nd in the nation) and .558 in conference games. Davis scored a season-high 24 points in last Thursday's win at Cal Poly.
● 7-6 sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye and junior guard Alex Young returned to action last week after missing multiple games due to foot injuries. Senior post John Ryan remains sidelined indefinitely, also due to a foot injury.
● Sophomore guard Luke Nelson has averaged 5.8 assists in the last five games. He had seven assists in last Thursday's win at Cal Poly and tied his career high with eight assists in the Feb. 19 win over Hawai'i. He ranks third in the Big West at 4.1 assists per game. Nelson scored a season-high 19 points against Saint Mary's and UT Arlington. Nelson was Big West Conference Freshman of the Year last season.
● Senior guard Travis Souza leads the 'Eaters with 58 threes on the season and has 133 for his career to rank 10th in UCI history. Souza tied his career with five treys in the Feb. 19 win over Hawai'i and scored a career-high 17 points in the Jan. 29 win over Cal Poly. He tied his career high with three steals in last Thursday's win at Cal Poly and has 12 assists in the past four games. Souza ranks third in the Big West in three-point field-goal percentage (.479).
● Junior guard Alex Young returned to action last Thursday at Cal Poly after missing the previous four games due to a left-foot injury sustained in the UC Davis game Feb. 5. He is fourth in UCI history with 387 career assists. 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 Dec. 22. Young also was named Big West Player of the Week after that performance. He had a career-high six steals in the Dec. 13 loss to UT Arlington, including five in the first 5:16 of the game. He leads UCI with 32 steals this season and is 14th in UCI history with 96 for his career. Young has scored 889 career points.
● Sophomore post Ioannis Dimakopoulos made his first career starts at Cal Poly and UCSB last week averaging 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds. He scored a season-high 11 points in the Dec. 6 win over Sacramento State.
● 7-6 sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye was back in action last week after missing the previous 10 games with a foot injury. He had 11 points and six rebounds in 14 reserve minutes against Cal Poly Thursday, and six points and four boards versus UCSB Saturday. Ndiaye scored a career-high 21 points in the Nov. 29 win at Loyola Marymount, hitting 10 of 11 from the field.
● Sophomore guard Jaron Martin scored a career-high 19 points in the Feb. 21 win over CSUN. Martin scored a then-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. He ranks fourth in the Big West in three-point percentage at .475.
● Junior guard Aaron Wright had a career-high four steals 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.
● Junior guard Dominique Dunning had four rebounds in each game last week and snared eight boards in 23 reserve minutes of the Feb. 19 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 scored a season-high 10 points, hitting 5 of 6 from the field, in the Dec. 31 win over Hampden-Sydney.
● Senior post John Ryan, who has started 19 games this season, sustained an injury to his right foot at Riverside Feb. 14. He is shooting 56.6 percent from the field and is tied for the team lead with 33 blocked shots. He tied his career high with 10 rebounds in the Feb. 7 win at LBSU. Ryan has 338 points, 294 rebounds and 77 blocked shots in his UCI career.
ON THIS DATE
● On this date 10 years ago, Mar. 5, 2005, UCI defeated Cal Poly, 79-49, at the Bren Events Center.
● Greg Ethington had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Nic Campbell added 11 points. UCI shot 55 percent from the field and limited the Mustangs to 29 percent.
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