GAME #31

UC Irvine (22-8, 11-3) vs. Cal Poly (10-17, 4-10)
Thursday, March 3, 2016 – 8:30 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, California

Series Record:  UCI leads 27-21
Last Meeting:  UCI won 78-72 OT (2/2/16 in SLO)

Radio:  KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)

TV:  ESPN3 (Trent Schlom, Richie Schueler & Sanaz Tavassol)

Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets

 

ANTEATERS HOST MUSTANGS ON SENIOR NIGHT:  UC Irvine (22-8, 11-3) hosts Cal Poly (10-17, 4-10) on Senior Night in the season's home finale Thursday.

UCI seniors Mike Best, Dominique Dunning, Shawn Ray, Aaron Wright and Alex Young will be recognized prior to the game.

UCI trails league leader Hawai'i by one game with two regular-season contests left.  Following Thursday night's game, the Anteaters travel to UC Riverside Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. in the regular-season finale.

The Big West Tournament is next Thursday through Saturday (March 10-12) at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

THE SERIES:  UCI leads the series with Cal Poly, 27-21, including a 78-72, overtime win in San Luis Obispo Feb. 3.

It was a wild finish that night as UCI trailed the Mustangs, 63-60, with 4.1 seconds left in regulation and the length of the court to navigate. 

On the inbounds play, Dominique Dunning threw a full-court pass to Mamadou Ndiaye, who immediately threw a cross-court pass to Jaron Martin, who nailed the tying three from the right side with under a second left. The Anteaters went on to outscore Cal Poly, 15-9, in the overtime period.

Ndiaye tied his career high with 21 points and added eight blocks while Luke Nelson also scored 21 points.

Ridge Shipley and Taylor Sutlive led the Mustangs with 11 points each.

UC IRVINE NOTES


● Luke Nelson hit a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds left to lift UCI over UC Davis, 62-61, in Davis Saturday night.  The Anteaters surrendered a 17-point lead in the second half before pulling out the win.  Jaron Martin led the 'Eaters with 16 points and Best added 10.  Mamadou Ndiaye tied his career high with 14 rebounds.

●The Anteaters defeated Long Beach State, 90-67, last Wednesday, shooting 79 percent in the second half.

● UCI, 22-8 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 an 11-3 league mark, UCI has won 46 Big West games in the past four seasons.

● UCI is 10-2 in the Bren Events Center this season and has won 46 of its last 56 home games (.821).

● As of Wednesday morning, UCI ranks 11th in the nation (of 351 teams) in field-goal percentage defense (.389), 18th in blocked shots per game (5.4) and 40th in scoring defense (65.7).

● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye is 13th in the nation in total blocks (73) and 19th in blocked shots per game (2.43), which leads the Big West.

● Senior guard Alex Young is 16th in assist/turnover ratio at 3.31, 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 (.389) and blocked shots (5.4 per game).

● In conference games only, UCI leads the league in field-goal percentage (.470), field-goal percentage defense (.390), three-point field goal percentage (.409), rebounding margin (+3.3), assists per game (15.7) and blocked shots per game (5.8).

● 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, who tied his career high with nine assists in the Feb. 24 win over Long Beach State, has 543 in his career to rank eighth in Big West Conference history.

● Young has 145 steals in his career to rank fourth in UCI history.  He has recorded at least two steals in 13 games this season. Young, in his third year as a team captain, is 16th on the Anteater career list with 115 threes.

● Young currently ranks 17th in UCI history with 1,218 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 204 career blocked shots to rank fourth in Big West Conference history.  He trails Will Davis II by four for the UCI career record.

● Ndiaye is 31 of 43 (.721) from the field in the last five games, averaging 14.8 points in that span.

● Ndiaye, who is tied for the Big West lead with five double-doubles this season, tied his career high with 14 rebounds in last Saturday's win at UC Davis.  He was named Big West Player of the Week after adding 17 points and four blocked shots in the Dec. 12 win at Utah State.

● Ndiaye has 501 rebounds and 807 points in 78 career games.  He is the 22nd player in UCI history to grab 500 boards.

● Junior guard Luke Nelson became the 26th player in UCI history to reach 1,000 points last month and he now ranks 23rd with 1,102 in his career.  Nelson, who had 25 points in the Feb. 24 win over Long Beach State, has five 20-point games this season and seven in his career. Nelson is 67 of 74 (.905) from the free-throw line in all games this season to lead the Big West.

● Nelson is fifth in Anteater history with 183 threes and sixth with 335 assists. He tied his career high with 10 assists in the Feb. 17 win at Fullerton.  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 UC Davis last Saturday and is tied for eighth in UCI history with 104 career thefts.

● Senior forward Mike Best has averaged 11.3 points in the last three games and 5.9 rebounds in the last eight games.

● Senior guard Dominique Dunning, who had a career-high six assists in the win over CSUN Feb. 13, has 22 assists and just six turnovers in his last 16 games.

● Junior post Ioannis Dimakopoulos ranks second on the team with 30 blocked shots, including a career-high six in the Jan. 27 win at CSUN.

● Junior guard Jaron Martin is second on the team with 48 threes this season and ranks 19th in UCI history with 97.

● Senior guard Aaron Wright had a season-high six assists in the Feb. 17 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.

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