GAME #29
UC Irvine (20-8, 9-3) vs. Long Beach State (15-12, 9-3)
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, California
Series Record: LBSU leads 56-39
Last Meeting: UCI won 58-54 (1/14/16 at Long Beach)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
TV: ESPN3 (Trent Schlom, Richie Schueler & Courtney Sweet)
Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets
UCI HOSTS 49ERS: UC Irvine (20-8, 9-3) hosts Long Beach State (15-12, 9-3) in a critical Big West Conference game as the teams are tied for second place in the league.
The Anteaters topped LBSU, 58-54, at the Walter Pyramid Jan. 14 in the season's first meeting. Mamadou Ndiaye scored 13 points to lead UCI with Jaron Martin and Luke Nelson adding 11 each. Nick Faust led the 49ers with 19 points. UCI capitalized on a 25-9 run in the second half to earn the "Black & Blue" victory.
UCI SPLITS: UCI split two games last week, defeating Cal State Fullerton, 96-77, and falling to Hawai'i, 75-71.
The Anteaters shot 76 percent and scored 60 points in the second half against the Titans. Hawai'i scored the game's final nine points to pull out the win Saturday night.
FOURTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON: UCI, 20-8 overall, has registered its fourth straight 20-win season for the first time in history. This is the ninth time that the Anteaters have recorded 20 wins in the 51-year history of the program.
IN THE BREN EVENTS CENTER: UCI is 9-2 in the Bren Events Center this season and has won 45 of its last 55 home games (.818).
UC IRVINE NOTES
● As of Tuesday morning, UCI ranks 14th in the nation (of 351 teams) in field-goal percentage defense (.388), 21st in blocked shots per game (5.4) and 43rd in scoring defense (65.8).
● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye is 13th in the nation in total blocks (69) and 22nd in blocked shots per game (2.46), which leads the Big West.
● Senior guard Alex Young is 15th in assist/turnover ratio at 3.45, which leads the Big West for all games. He has 10 games this season with no turnovers.
● In the Big West statistics, for all games, UCI ranks No. 1 in field-goal percentage defense (.388) and blocked shots (5.4 per game).
● In conference games only, UCI leads the league in field-goal percentage (.461), field-goal percentage defense (.387), three-point field goal percentage (.388) and blocked shots per game (5.9).
● UCI has averaged 86.7 points in the last three games, over 16 points above the team's average for the season.
● Senior point guard Alex Young has 528 career assists to rank ninth in Big West Conference history.
● Young has 142 steals in his career to rank fourth in UCI history. He has recorded at least two steals in 12 games this season. Young, in his third year as a team captain, is 17th on the Anteater career list with 111 threes.
● Young currently ranks 20th in UCI history with 1,200 points. He scored a career-high 36 points on 14-of-19 shooting in the Feb. 13 win over CSUN.
● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye has 200 career blocked shots to rank fourth in Big West Conference history. He trails Will Davis II by eight for the UCI career record.
● Ndiaye was 12 of 16 from the field in last week's two games when he averaged 16.0 points.
● Junior guard Luke Nelson became the 26th player in UCI history to reach 1,000 points earlier this month. He has 1,068 career points and is averaging 14.9 points in Big West games. Nelson scored a team-high 18 points in Saturday's loss to Hawai'i. He has four 20-point games this season and six in his career. Nelson is 64 of 69 (.928) from the free-throw line in all games this season to lead the Big West.
● Nelson is fifth in Anteater history with 176 threes and sixth with 323 assists. He tied his career high with 10 assists in last Wednesday's win at Fullerton and had seven against Hawai'i Saturday. Nelson and Alex Young are two of the four players in UCI history to record 1,000 career points and 300 assists (Jerry Green and Ben McDonald).
● Nelson tied his career high with four steals against Hawai'i Saturday and ranks 14th in UCI history with 99 career thefts.
● Senior forward Mike Best has averaged 6.2 rebounds in the last six games. He scored 14 points against Hawai'i last Saturday night.
● Senior guard Dominique Dunning, who had a career-high six assists in the win over CSUN Feb. 13, has 22 assists and just five turnovers in his last 14 games.
● Freshman forward Brandon Smith is 8 of 15 from the field in Big West games.
● Junior post Ioannis Dimakopoulos ranks second on the team with 28 blocked shots, including a career-high six in the Jan. 27 win at CSUN.
● Junior guard Jaron Martin is second on the team with 43 threes this season. He was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc in last Wednesday's win at Fullerton.
● Senior guard Aaron Wright had a season-high six assists in last Wednesday's win at Fullerton and added 12 points.
● Redshirt freshman forward Jonathan Galloway had a career-high three blocked shots in the Feb. 13 win over CSUN and he pulled down a team-high eight rebounds at Hawai'i Feb. 11 for the second-most in his UCI career.
_________________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
