GAME #33

#2 UC Irvine (24-8) vs. #7 Cal Poly (10-19)
Big West Tournament Quarterfinal
Thursday, March 10, 2016 – 6:00 p.m.
Honda Center (17,608) – Anaheim, California

Series Record:  UCI leads 28-21
Last Meeting:  UCI won 72-62 (3/3/16 in Irvine)

Radio:  KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
TV:  FOX Prime Ticket (Mark Rogondino, Corey Maggette & Rahshaun Haylock)


Audio / Live Stats / Tournament Central


UC IRVINE OPENS AGAINST CAL POLY:  Second-seeded UC Irvine (24-8) faces No. 7 seed Cal Poly (10-19) in a Big West Conference Tournament quarterfinal game Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Honda Center.

Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters, who have won 14 of their last 17 games entering the tournament, earned a share of the Big West regular-season title.  UCI defeated UC Riverside, 76-66, Saturday and Hawai'i fell at Long Beach State to create the tie.  The Rainbow Warriors received the top seed as a result of winning both regular-season games against UCI.

This is the second time in three years that the Anteaters have won outright or shared the regular-season championship, and fourth time overall for the program. The program's other regular-season titles were in 2001, 2002 and 2014.

'EATERS BROKE THROUGH IN 2015: UCI won the program's first Big West Conference Tournament championship last season with a 67-58 victory over Hawai'i in the title game after defeating UC Riverside (63-54) in a quarterfinal game and UC Santa Barbara (72-63, OT) in the semifinals.  UCI has advanced to the postseason each of the last three years (2013 CIT, 2014 NIT, and 2015 NCAA).

THE SERIES:  UCI leads the series with Cal Poly, 28-21, as the Anteaters won both regular-season meetings, 78-72 (overtime) in San Luis Obispo Feb. 3 and 72-62 at the Bren Events Center last Thursday.

BIG WEST HONORS FOR UCI TRIO:  Three UCI players earned All-Big West honors as the 2016 accolades were announced Monday morning.

For the first time in history, the Anteaters have two first-team selections in the same season as junior guard Luke Nelson and junior center Mamadou Ndiaye received the award.

Nelson leads UCI in scoring at 13.3 points per game and is averaging 4.1 assists while Ndiaye is averaging 12.5 points and 7.2 rebounds, plus he has 78 blocked shots.

Senior guard Alex Young was named to the All-Big West second team.

He is averaging 10.0 points and 4.4 assists per game this season.  Young ranks No. 1 in UCI history with 551 career assists.

Ndiaye also earned the league's "Best Defensive Player" award for the second time in the past three years.  He is the Anteaters' career leader in blocked shots with 209.


UC IRVINE NOTES

● UCI's 24 wins this season are the second-most in the program's history, just one shy of the school record of 25 set by the 2000-01 team.  UCI has won 89 games in the last four seasons, including 48 Big West contests.

● UCI, 24-8 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.

● UCI was 7-1 in Big West road games this season, with the only loss coming at Hawai'i Feb. 11.

● The Anteaters advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time in school history last March, narrowly losing to three-time national champion Louisville, 57-55, in the NCAA Second Round at Seattle.  The appearance ended a 38-year drought for UCI, which moved to NCAA Division I July 1, 1977.

● In the past seven games, UCI has shot 62.9 percent from the field in the second half and 54.5 percent overall in those contests.

● UCI is 17-0 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent from the field.  The Anteaters have won 53 of their last 55 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.

● 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 114-88 at UCI, including 89-49 since the start of the 2012-13 season.

● As of Monday morning, UCI ranks 10th in the nation (of 351 teams) in field-goal percentage defense (.387), 19th in blocked shots per game (5.3) and 37th in scoring defense (65.6).

● Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye is 13th in the nation in total blocks (78) and 21st in blocked shots per game (2.44), which leads the Big West.

● Senior guard Alex Young is 16th nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 3.26, 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 (.463), field-goal percentage defense (.387) and blocked shots (5.3 per game).

● In conference games only, UCI leads the league in field-goal percentage (.482), field-goal percentage defense (.386), three-point field goal percentage (.404), rebounding margin (+3.3), assists per game (15.4) and blocked shots per game (5.6).

● in the most-recent meeting with Cal Poly, senior forward Mike Best scored 19 points to help lead UCI to a 72-62 win at the Bren Events Center last Thursday on Senior Night.  Senior guard Alex Young added 14 points and five assists while junior center Mamadou Ndiaye had 13 points and four blocked shots.  Junior guard Luke Nelson registered 12 points and six assists.

● The Anteaters shot 65 percent from the field in the second half of the win and 56.9 percent for the game.

● In the season's first meeting at San Luis Obispo Feb. 3, UCI prevailed 78-72 in overtime with a wild finish.  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 in that win 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.

● 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 551 in his career to rank sixth in Big West Conference history.

● Young has 146 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 14th on the Anteater career list with 118 threes.

● Young currently ranks 15th in UCI history with 1,246 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 209 career blocked shots to rank No. 1 in the UCI record book and third in Big West Conference history.

● Ndiaye is 33 of 46 (.717) from the field in the last seven games, averaging 13.7 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 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 517 rebounds and 829 points in 80 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 1,132 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 73 of 84 (.869) from the free-throw line in all games this season to lead the Big West.

● Nelson is fifth in Anteater history with 187 threes and 343 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 106 career thefts.

● Senior forward Mike Best has averaged 14.6 points in the last five games.  He has three 20-point games this season, including 20 in last Saturday's 76-66 win at UC Riverside.

● Senior guard Dominique Dunning, who had a career-high six assists in the win over CSUN Feb. 13, has 24 assists and just seven turnovers in his last 18 games.

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