GAME #20
UC Irvine (14-5, 3-0) at UC Santa Barbara (7-8, 1-1)
Saturday, January 16, 2016 – 4:00 p.m.
Thunderdome (6,000) – Santa Barbara, California
Series Record: UCSB leads 50-34
Last Meeting: UCI won 72-63, OT (3/13/15 in Anaheim)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan)
Audio / Video / Live Stats
ANTEATERS, GAUCHOS MEET SATURDAY: UC Irvine (14-5, 3-0) faces UC Santa Barbara (7-8, 1-1) in a Big West Conference game at the Thunderdome Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters, who have won seven of their last eight games, are coming off a 58-54 win at Long Beach State Thursday night. UCI was down by 13 points in the first half and rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half with a 25-9 run.
Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye had 13 points and three blocked shots while junior guards Luke Nelson and Jaron Martin scored 11 points each. All of Martin's points came in the second half. Senior point guard Alex Young registered eight assists as he is just five shy of the 500 mark for his career.
UCI held the 49ers to 24.6 percent from the field.
UCI-UCSB SERIES: UC Santa Barbara leads the series 50-34. The teams split in the regular season last year with UCI winning 77-55 at the Bren Events Center (1/31/15) and the Gauchos prevailing 54-51 in the Thunderdome (2/28/15). UCI defeated UCSB, 72-63 in overtime, in a Big West Tournament semifinal game at the Honda Center last March 13.
IN THE RANKINGS: UCI is ranked No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week.
In the NCAA statistics, through Thursday's games, Alex Young ranks eighth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (4.5) while Mamadou Ndiaye is ninth in total blocks with 49 and 18th in blocked shots per game (2.58).
UCI ranks 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.375) and 24th in scoring defense (63.7).
UC IRVINE NOTES
● In the Big West statistics as of Friday, UCI ranks No. 1 in scoring defense (63.7), field-goal percentage defense (.375) and blocked shots (5.2 per game).
● Alex Young leads the Big West in assist/turnover ratio (4.5) and Mamadou Ndiaye is first in blocked shots (2.58 per game).
● UCI has won 55 of its last 57 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 7-0 this season.
● UCI is 11-0 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent from the field. The Anteaters have held their first three Big West opponents to 30.4 percent this season.
● Senior point guard Alex Young is UCI's career leader in assists with 495 as he recently passed the previous mark of 475 held by Raimonds Miglinieks. Young is the active Big West career leader with his 495 assists as he zeroes in on becoming the 12th player in conference history to reach 500.
● Young, in his third year as a team captain, is fourth in UCI history with 129 steals after recording five at Long Beach State Thursday and he is 18th on the Anteater career list with 98 threes. He had a career-high nine rebounds in the Nov. 23 win over Santa Clara and has seven games this season with no turnovers.
● Young is the 25th player in Anteater history to reach 1,000 career points and he currently ranks 22nd with 1,098. Young scored a season-high 20 points in the 73-63 win at Utah State Dec. 12.
● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye, in his UCI career, has 180 blocked shots and is shooting 67 percent from the field in his UCI career. His 180 rejections rank fifth in Big West Conference history.
● Junior guard Luke Nelson is averaging 18.7 points in UCI's three Big West games, shooting 60 percent from the field, including 10 of 17 (.588) on threes. He is 35 of 37 (.946) overall from the free-throw line this season.
● Nelson is seventh in Anteater history with 160 threes and 13th with 282 assists. Nelson has scored 945 career points.
● Senior forward Mike Best, who averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds last season, is averaging 8.2 points and 4.4 boards this season. He is averaging 6.3 boards in Big West play.
● Freshman forward Brandon Smith is 5 of 8 from the field in Big West action.
● Junior post Ioannis Dimakopoulos is 14 of 26 from the field in the past five games. He had a career-high six rebounds and tied his career high with three blocked shots in last Saturday's win over UC Riverside.
● Junior guard Jaron Martin is 6 of 10 on threes in the last four games. He ranks second on the team with 28 treys this season.
● Senior guard Aaron Wright has seven steals in the last three games.
● UCI returns to the Bren Events Center to host Cal State Fullerton Wednesday night at 7:30 on Prime Ticket.
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