GAME #30
UC Irvine (21-8, 10-3) at UC Davis (10-16, 5-8)
Saturday, February 27, 2016 - 9:00 p.m.
The Pavilion (5,931) - Davis, California
Series Record: UCI leads 21-14
Last Meeting: UCI won 76-55 (1/7/16 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan)
TV: ESPN2 (Eric Rothman & Richie Schueler)
Audio / Video / Live Stats
ANTEATERS, AGGIES ON NATIONAL TV: UC Irvine (21-8, 10-3) faces UC Davis (10-16, 5-8) Saturday night at Davis in a nationally-televised Big West game on ESPN2.
UCI, which trails league leader Hawai'i by one game, has three regular-season contests left. Following Saturday night's game, the Anteaters host Cal Poly Thursday and travel to UC Riverside next Saturday.
The Anteaters topped UC Davis, 76-55, in the season's conference opener at Irvine Jan. 7 as Luke Nelson scored 16 points, Mamadou Ndiaye 11 and Alex Young 10 for UCI. Josh Fox led the Aggies with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
UCI TAKES OUT 49ERS: UCI shot 79 percent (19 of 24) from the field in the second half Wednesday night in defeating Long Beach State, 90-67, at the Bren Events Center. Luke Nelson led five Anteater players in double figures with 25 points, hitting 9 of 10 shots. Mamadou Ndiaye scored 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
FOURTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON: UCI, 21-8 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.
With a 10-3 league mark, UCI has won 45 Big West games in the past four seasons.
OFFENSIVE RHYTHM: UCI has averaged 87.5 points in the last four games, hitting at least 90 in three of those contests.
The Anteaters have shot 55.8 percent from the field in the past four games, including 63 percent in the second half.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● As of Friday morning, UCI ranks 10th in the nation (of 351 teams) in field-goal percentage defense (.386), 17th in blocked shots per game (5.4) and 44th in scoring defense (65.9).
● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye is 13th in the nation in total blocks (71) and 22nd in blocked shots per game (2.45), which leads the Big West.
● Senior guard Alex Young is 15th in assist/turnover ratio at 3.42, 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 (.386) and blocked shots (5.4 per game).
● In conference games only, UCI leads the league in field-goal percentage (.474), field-goal percentage defense (.383), three-point field goal percentage (.407), rebounding margin (+2.9), assists per game (15.5) and blocked shots per game (5.9).
● UCI has won 57 of its last 59 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 9-0 this season.
● UCI is 15-0 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent from the field. The Anteaters have won 51 of their last 53 games when limiting the opponents to under 40 percent from the floor.
● Senior point guard Alex Young, after tying his career high with nine assists in Wednesday night's win over Long Beach State, has 537 in his career to tie for eighth in Big West Conference history.
● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye has 202 career blocked shots to rank fourth in Big West Conference history. He trails Will Davis II by six for the UCI career record.
● Ndiaye is 27 of 35 (.771) from the field in the last four games, averaging 16.5 points in that span.
● Junior guard Luke Nelson became the 26th player in UCI history to reach 1,000 points earlier this month and he now ranks 24th with 1,093 in his career. Nelson, who had 25 points in Wednesday's win over Long Beach State, has five 20-point games this season and seven in his career. Nelson is 65 of 71 (.915) from the free-throw line in all games this season to lead the Big West.
_________________________________________________________
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.
