GAME #22
UC Irvine (12-9, 5-0) at CSUN (7-11, 3-2)
Saturday, January 21, 2017 – 7:00 p.m.
The Matadome (2,000) – Northridge, Calif.
Series Record: UCI leads 32-24
Last Meeting: UCI won 93-84 (2/13/16 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan)
Audio / Video / Live Stats
UCI BACK ON THE ROAD: UC Irvine is back on the road Saturday night to take on CSUN in a Big West Conference game at the Matadome. UCI plays three of its next four games away from home.
The Anteaters, the only undefeated team in Big West Conference play at 5-0, have a seven-game winning streak overall, the program's longest since a similar spree in January a year ago.
Seventh-year head coach Russell Turner's Anteaters are coming off a 70-48 win at Cal Poly Wednesday night.
Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos scored 19 points for the second straight game and freshman forward Tommy Rutherford added 11. Dimakopoulos had 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
CSUN fell at Hawai'i, 80-77, Wednesday on a late three by the Rainbow Warriors.
THE SERIES: UCI leads the series with CSUN, 32-24, as the Anteaters have won the last four meetings.
UCI defeated the Matadors in both games last season: 73-63 in Northridge (1/27/16) and 93-84 in Irvine (2/13/16).
BACK HOME THURSDAY: UCI hosts Cal Poly Thursday night at 7:00 in the Bren Events Center before traveling to UC Davis next Saturday (Jan. 28) for a 5:00 p.m. game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
● Senior guard Jaron Martin leads UCI in scoring (13.4), assists (70), threes (43), steals (17) and minutes played (624). Martin has five 20-point games this season, including a career-high 33 in the Dec. 19 overtime loss at New Mexico State. He has scored 836 points in his Anteater career.
● Martin has hit 153 threes in his career to rank No. 8 in UCI history.
● Senior guard Luke Nelson is averaging 13.0 points through six games after missing the season's first 15 with a hamstring injury.
● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos is averaging 11.6 points and 4.5 boards on the season. He has three double-doubles and is shooting 53 percent from the field in all games and 60.4 percent in Big West contests.
● Freshman guard Eyassu Worku is averaging 8.0 points and is tied for the team lead with 17 steals. Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford is averaging 6.6 points and 5.0 boards, and is second on the team with 18 blocked shots.
● Redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard is averaging 4.9 points, freshman guard Evan Leonard 4.4 points, and sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway leads the team in rebounding at 6.4 boards per game, is averaging 4.2 points and has 20 blocked shots to lead the team.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● UCI's depth has been prevalent all season as the Anteaters' bench has outscored the opposition's reserves by an average of 29.1 to 18.4. UCI's bench advantage in the first five Big West games is an average of 29.8 points to 19.4. Eleven Anteater players have averaged at least 10 minutes of action in conference play.
● As of Friday morning, UCI is 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense at .382, 33rd in rebound margin (+6.3) and 42nd in scoring defense (65.1). The Anteaters have outrebounded their last seven opponents by an average of 40.7 to 27.7.
● For all games, UCI ranks first in the Big West in scoring margin (+4.4), scoring defense (65.1), field-goal percentage defense (.382), three-point field goal defense (.320), rebounding margin (+6.3), and total blocked shots (84).
● Jonathan Galloway is third in the conference in rebounding (6.4) and fourth in blocked shots per game (1.0) while Ioannis Dimakopoulos is fifth in field-goal percentage (.530). Jaron Martin is fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), fifth in three-point field goals made per game (2.0) and fifth in assists per game (3.3). Dimakopoulos and Tommy Rutherford are sixth in blocked shots per game (0.9).
● UCI is 6-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
● In the five conference games, UCI has shot 52.4 percent from the field to 36.2 percent for the opponents.
● UCI has won 66 of its last 69 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 8-1 this season.
● The Anteaters have won 65 of their last 72 games when limiting the opposition to under 40 percent from the field.
● Senior guard Jaron Martin has been named Big West Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 21 and Dec. 26). He has had at least four assists in 10 games this season.
● Senior guard Luke Nelson was named to the Big West preseason all-conference team. He earned All-Big West first team honors last season when he led the Anteaters in scoring at 13.7 points per game and in threes (83).
● Nelson ranks 12th in UCI history with 1,304 career points, fourth in career threes (217), fifth in assists (375) and fifth in steals (126).
● Sophomore forward Brandon Smith had a career-high three steals in last Saturday's win over Fullerton and tied his season high with nine points.
● Redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard has averaged 3.1 assists in the last seven games while sophomore Spencer Rivers has eight assists in the last four contests. Rivers tied his career high with four rebounds at Cal Poly.
● Freshman center Brad Greene is shooting 68.2 percent from the field and freshman forward Tommy Rutherford 63.2 percent.
ON THIS DATE
Twenty-nine years ago, on Jan. 21, 1988, UCI defeated Pacific, 87-80, in Stockton as Wayne Engelstad recorded 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Kevin Floyd added 21 points and six boards while Frank Woods had 11 points and eight rebounds.
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