GAME #36

UC Irvine (26-9) at Louisiana (19-14)
CIT Quarterfinal
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 – 5:15 p.m. (PT)
Cajundome (11,550) – Lafayette, La.

Series Record:  First meeting

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


Audio / Video / Live Stats

ANTEATERS, RAGIN' CAJUNS MEET IN CIT QUARTERS:  UC Irvine (26-9) takes on Louisiana (19-14) in a quarterfinal game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Wednesday night in Lafayette, La.

This is the fourth straight year that UCI has advanced to the postseason, competing in the 2013 CIT, 2014 NIT and 2015 NCAA.

Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters have won 16 of their last 20 games entering Wednesday's contest.

UCI defeated North Dakota, 89-86, in overtime last Wednesday in the CIT first round at Grand Forks, N.D.  Senior forward Mike Best led the way with 22 points, senior guard Alex Young scored 19, junior guard Luke Nelson 18 and junior guard Jaron Martin 15. 

The Anteaters, 3-0 in overtime games this season, had a bye in the second round of the CIT.

SCHOOL-RECORD WIN TOTAL: UCI's 26 wins this season have set a new school record. The 2000-01 team won 25 games in a 25-5 season.  UCI has won 91 games in the last four seasons, including 48 Big West contests.

UCI 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.


THE SERIES:  Wednesday night marks the first meeting in the series between UCI and Louisiana.


UC IRVINE NOTES

● UCI is 18-1 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent from the field.  The Anteaters have won 54 of their last 57 games when limiting the opponents to under 40 percent from the floor.

● UCI has won 57 of its last 59 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 9-0 this season.

● UCI has shot 52 percent from the field in the last 10 games.

● Sixth-year head coach Russell Turner earned career win No. 100 with the Anteaters in UCI's 80-62 victory over Norfolk State Dec. 22 to claim the championship of the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas.  Turner is currently 116-89 at UCI, including 91-50 since the start of the 2012-13 season.

● As of Monday morning, UCI ranks seventh in the nation (of 351 teams) in field-goal percentage defense (.388), 15th in total blocks (181), 22nd in blocked shots per game (5.2), 30th in total assists (533) and 48th in scoring defense (66.5).

● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye is 13th in the nation in total blocks (84) and 22nd in blocked shots per game (2.40), which leads the Big West.

● Senior guard Alex Young is 15th nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 3.04 which leads the Big West for all games.  He has 10 games this season with no turnovers.

● Louisiana is 19-14 overall, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 96-72, in the CIT first round and Furman, 80-72, in the second round.  This is the Ragin' Cajuns' fourth postseason appearance in the past five years.

● Senior forward Shawn Long leads the Ragin' Cajuns at 19.2 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.  Senior guard Kasey Shepherd is averaging 11.3 points for head coach Bob Marlin's squad.

● UCI senior point guard Alex Young, who tied his career high with nine assists in the Feb. 24 win over Long Beach State, has a school-record 566 in his career to rank sixth in Big West Conference history.  He has played in a school-record 136 games over the past four seasons.

● Young has 153 steals in his career to rank fourth in UCI history.  He has recorded at least two steals in 15 games this season. Young, in his third year as a team captain, is 14th on the Anteater career list with 120 threes.

● Young currently ranks 12th in UCI history with 1,282 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 215 career blocked shots to rank No. 1 in the UCI record book and third in Big West Conference history.

● Ndiaye, who leads the Big West with six double-doubles this season, tied his career high with 14 rebounds in the Feb. 27 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 537 rebounds and 861 points in 84 career games.  His 537 boards rank 19th in UCI history.

● Junior guard Luke Nelson became the 26th player in UCI history to reach 1,000 points last month and he now ranks 21st with 1,191 in his career.  Nelson has six 20-point games this season and eight in his career. Nelson is 84 of 97 (.866) from the free-throw line in all games this season to lead the Big West.

● Nelson is fifth in Anteater history with 197 threes and 351 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 Feb. 27 and is ninth in UCI history with 107 career thefts.

● Senior forward Mike Best has averaged 14.4 points in the last seven games.  He tied his career high with 22 points in last week's CIT win at North Dakota.

● Senior guard Dominique Dunning, who had a career-high six assists in the win over CSUN Feb. 13, has 26 assists and just eight turnovers in his last 21 games.

● Junior post Ioannis Dimakopoulos ranks second on the team with 32 blocked shots, including a career-high six in the Jan. 27 win at CSUN.

● Junior guard Jaron Martin is second on the team with 57 threes this season and ranks 19th in UCI history with 106.  Martin has averaged 18.0 points in the last two games.

● Senior guard Aaron Wright had a season-high six assists in the Feb. 17 win at Fullerton and added 12 points.  He tied his career high with four steals in the Jan. 7 win over UC Davis. Wright had six points, six rebounds and three assists in last week's CIT win at North Dakota.

● Redshirt freshman forward Jonathan Galloway had eight rebounds in the win at North Dakota, one shy of his career high.  He had a career-high three blocked shots in the Feb. 13 win over CSUN.

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