GAME #1
Utah State (0-0) at UC Irvine (0-0)
Friday, November 11, 2016 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.
Series Record: Utah State leads 31-28
Last Meeting: UCI won 73-63 (12/12/15 in Logan, Utah)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan)
Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets
ANTEATERS OPEN REGULAR SEASON: Seventh-year head coach Russell Turner's UC Irvine team opens the regular season Friday night facing Utah State in the Bren Events Center at 7:00 p.m. Three of UCI's first four games are at home before going on the road for 10 of the next 11.
This will be the 60th meeting in the series between the former Big West Conference rivals. Utah State, which was in the Big West from 1978-2005, leads the series with UCI, 31-28.
The teams met for the first time in seven years last season with the Anteaters claiming a 73-63 victory in Logan, Utah, as Alex Young scored 20 points, Mamadou Ndiaye 17 and Luke Nelson 15.
UCI and Utah State had several epic encounters in the early part of the 2000s, including wins by UCI in back-to-back years at the Spectrum in Logan. Jerry Green's buzzer-beating jumper Jan. 10, 2002, gave UCI a 67-66 win to snap the Aggies' 31-game home winning streak. The next season, Mike Hood hit two free throws with 1.3 seconds left for a 59-58 Anteaters' victory (2/13/03).
Utah State handed UCI its only Big West loss in 2000-01 as the Aggies won 67-52 at the Spectrum Feb. 8, 2001, to snap the Anteaters' 13-game winning streak. Third-seeded Utah State knocked No. 2 seed UCI out of the 2003 Big West Tournament in the semifinals with a 62-55 win.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: Second-year head coach Tim Duryea's Utah State team was 16-15 overall last season as the Aggies have registered 23 consecutive winning seasons.
Utah State was 7-11 in the Mountain West Conference last season to tie for eighth place.
IN HOME OPENERS: UCI, beginning its 52nd season of basketball, is 37-14 all-time in home openers and 24-27 in season openers.
IN THE BREN EVENTS CENTER: UCI was 11-2 in the Bren Events Center last season and has won 47 of its last 57 home games (.825).
The Bren Center's 30th anniversary is Jan. 8, as the facility opened Jan. 8, 1987, in the Anteaters' 118-96 win over Utah State as current Washington Wizards' head coach Scott Brooks scored 43 points.
JACKRABBITS INVADE MONDAY: UCI hosts South Dakota State Monday night at 7:00 in the first meeting between the schools. The Jackrabbits have competed in three of the last five NCAA Tournaments.
'EATERS TOP SONOMA STATE IN EXHIBITION: UCI defeated Sonoma State, 81-63, in an exhibition game at the Bren Events Center last Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Jaron Martin led the way with 18 points, hitting 7 of 10 shots, and added four steals and three assists for the Anteaters, who led wire-to-wire. Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos had 13 points and five rebounds while redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard scored 10 points.
UCI shot 64 percent from the field in the first half to build a 43-25 halftime lead as Dimakopoulos scored 11 of his points in the opening 20 minutes. The Anteaters shot 51 percent from the floor in the game and hit 22 of 26 free throws.
SCHOOL-RECORD WIN TOTAL: The Anteaters won a school-record 28 games last season (28-10) and also set school marks for non-conference victories (15) and road wins (13). UCI, which has won 48 league games over the past years, earned a share of the 2016 Big West Conference regular-season title, the program's second in the past three years.
UCI has won 93 games over the past four seasons, advancing to the postseason each of those years (2013 CIT, 2014 NIT, 2015 NCAA and 2016 CIT).
The Anteaters competed in the 2016 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), advancing to the final. UCI defeated North Dakota (89-86, OT), Louisiana (67-66) and Coastal Carolina (66-47) before falling to Columbia, 73-67, in the championship game. All four contests were on the road.
DEFENSE WAS STRONG AGAIN: Defense was prevalent once again under Coach Turner last season as UCI ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .383, 20th in blocked shots per game (5.2) and 43rd in scoring defense (66.1).
Last season, UCI was 20-1 when limiting the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field and has won 56 of its last 59 games when holding the opponents below 40 percent.
The 'Eaters have won 58 of their last 60 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 10-0 last season.
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