UC Irvine split its opening weekend of basketball falling in the opener Friday night at South Dakota State, 65-54, and regrouping for an 83-69 victory Sunday at Denver.

The Anteater defense shined Friday night holding SDSU to 29.8% shooting, and the nation's third-leading scorer, Mike Daum, to just 3-of-11 with 12 points, but the 'Eaters struggled to hang onto the ball with 18 turnovers which turned into 14 Jackrabbit 3-pointers to lead to the opening loss. Elston Jones picked up 14 rebounds in its Anteater debut joined by 13 from Jonathan Galloway while Eyassu Worku and Evan Leonard each scored double figures.

Sunday night the 'Eaters hit their stride taking control of a close game early with a 16-2 run down the stretch of the first half, and really turning on the jets thanks to 10 steals and eight blocks to stifle the high-tempo Denver Pioneers. Leonard returns with 19 points to set a new career high, and was 1 of 5 Anteaters in double figures. Tommy Rutherford posted his second career double-double (10 pts-11 reb) and added three blocks as the 'Eaters shot 45.2% for the game, 53.3% in the second half, and made 15 of their last 16 foul shots to distance themselves from the host Denver squad.

POWER FIVE PREVIEW
UCI has a treacherous week beginning with a home game Tuesday against Division III counterpart, Chapman, before travelling to Kansas State and Arizona State for the weekend.

The Panthers are coming off a 10-15 year, and are two years removed from its last matchup with UCI where the 'Eaters won, 65-51, in the Bren. CU returns starters James Taylor (12 pts, 7 reb) and Rob Nelsen (5 pts, 7 reb) from that game, and Taylor along with Tyler Green and Reed Nakakihara each return from averaging double figures in 2016-17.

UC Irvine then travels to Kansas State to begin the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The meeting will be the first of its kind between the 'Eaters and Wildcats. K-State won exhibition matchups against Missouri State and DII schools Fort Hays State and Emporia State by an average of 24 points before opening with a 38-point thumping of American University. K-State is 1 of 15 schools including the 'Eaters with one or fewer seniors on its roster. They went 21-14 in 2016-17 averaging 72.1 points per game with double-digit scoring starters returning in juniors Kamau Stokes and Barry Brown Jr.

Sunday's 11 a.m. matchup ends the week with a trip to the desert to play Arizona State. UCI is winless in three matchups all-time that has spanned back to 1981. Under third-year coach Bobby Hurley, ASU has won 15 games each of the last two years and return senior starters Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II, and Kodi Justice. ASU also had three exhibition wins over Arizona Christian (115-69), on the road at USD (85-77), and a close-call winning in two OTs to Northern State (98-90). UCI will be the last of four home games to open the year for the Sun Devils. ASU topped Idaho State by 20, and will host San Diego State and Northern Arizona before UCI comes into town.

NEWS & NOTES
Under head coach Russell Turner, UCI has won 114 games over the last five years, advancing to the postseason each of those years (2013 CIT, 2014 NIT, 2015 NCAA, 2016 CIT and 2017 NIT).

UCI has recorded five consecutive 20-win seasons, including 21-15 in 2016-17. In the past five seasons, UCI is 114-66 overall and 60-22 in Big West Conference games. The 'Eaters were 12-4 in Big West play last season, winning those 12 by an average of 18.0 points.

UCI was 11-2 at home last season and has won 37 of its last 44 games (.841) in the Bren Events Center.

UCI will play 13 home games in 2017-18. After traveling to South Dakota and Denver for the first two games of the regular season, UCI will entertain Chapman in the home opener Nov. 14 at 7:00 p.m.  

UCI has won a conference-best 60 Big West games over the last five seasons (60-22, .732).

UCI has won outright, or shared, the Big West regular-season title three of the last four years, including the last two.

The Anteaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll garnering 14 of the 26 first-place votes.

College Sports Madness named three Anteaters to its Preseason All-Conference squad including Tommy Rutherford, Eyassu Worku, and Jonathan Galloway. Russell Turner was also mentioned as Preseason Coach of the Year for the publication.

The Anteaters ranked sixth in the nation last season in field-goal percentage defense at .383. The Anteaters were 17^th in rebound margin (6.7) and 29^th in scoring defense (64.8).

The 'Eaters have blocked 744 shots over the past four seasons for an average of 5.2 per game.  UCI returns three of its top four shot-blockers from last season.

The 'Eaters have won 72 of their last 77 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less.  Entering the season, UCI was 71-9 in its last 80 games when limiting the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field.

UCI has a tough non-conference schedule featuring six teams that saw action in the NCAA Tournament last season.  

Juniors Jonathan Galloway and Brandon Smith are UCI's two returning starters from the 2016-17 squad.

Galloway, who stands at 6-10, was named the 2017 Big West Defensive Player of the Year. The forward led UCI in rebounding (7.6) and blocked shots (40) as a sophomore. His 7.6 rebounding average was the highest by an Anteater player in six years.

Smith, a 6-5 forward, is also regarded as one of the top defenders in the Big West. He was third on the team blocks with 23, while averaging 3.1 points and 3.2 rebounds. He also swiped 27 steals.

Six of UCI's returning players averaged at least 12 minutes of playing time last season. The lone senior, Teo Davidian, earned a roster spot after three years as a team manager.

Sophomore Eyassu Worku averaged 7.2 points, while Max Hazzard, a redshirt freshman last season, averaged 4.4 points and started 18 of the team's 36 games.

Sophomore Evan Leonard had a career-high 11 points against UTEP and averaged 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds per game a year ago.

Forward Tommy Rutherford averaged 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds as true freshmen last season. He was second on the team in blocks with 32.

Brad Greene, a 6-10 sophomore center, shot 59% from the field, averaging 2.7 points and grabbing 3.0 rebounds per contest. He is not the big man you might remember, slimming down from 320 lbs to 280 lbs in 2017-18 and becoming leaner and quicker than ever.

A key front-line addition this season is 6-9 junior Elston Jones, who sat out last season after transferring from Utah State, where he played in 59 games over two seasons. The post presence was a standout in his hometown of Goodyear, Arizona where he put up 17 double-doubles and
three triple-doubles in high school

Justin Wertner also joins the mix after redshirting in his freshman season last year. The perimeter player won a state title and was Division II Mr. Basketball in Tennessee as a native of Memphis. Prior to joining the 'Eaters, he served a mission to Chile.

Three other returnees - Spencer Rivers, John Edgar Jr. and Darrian Traylor - will be key contributors for the Anteaters. Rivers and Edgar Jr. both played in every game last season and averaged 2.1 points per game. Traylor saw action in 20 games, shooting 47.4% from the floor with seven three-pointers.

Newcomers include Collin Welp, a 6-9 forward from Seattle Prep, who is the son of late-great Christian Welp, all-time leading scorer from the University of Washington, and collected over 1,000 career points in high school.

7-foot-1 Solomon Ruddell joins the club from The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa. He's originally from Los Osos, Calif., and returns to the state after a senior season where he averaged eight points, five boards, and two blocks.

True freshman Riley Welch is a guard who grew up in Los Angeles, but is highly-decorated from his time at Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colorado where he took his school to a State Final Four following regional, county, and league titles.