Points in the Paint
9 - At least 9 UCI players have scored in each of the last 4 contests including at least 10 players vs. Denver, Chapman, and K-State
0 - Of UC Irvine's 5 games, 0 have been decided by single digits. The closest was an 11-point loss at South Dakota State
13 - UCI has 13 wins all-time against the Pac-12 with the last coming in 2013 at Washington (86-72)

CONTINENTAL TIRE LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL
The 2017 Las Vegas Invitational is already underway as it descends on its home base of the Orleans Arena, an 8,000-seat that has been home to ECHL hockey (Las Vegas Wranglers) and Arena Football (Las Vegas Gladiators). The invitational is in its 17th year of existence where it initially started as a tournament held at nearby Valley High School starting in 2001. It moved to Thanksgiving in 2003, and then moved to the Orleans Arena in 2006 where it was sponsored by IBN Sports up until 2013. Illinois and Kansas have each won the tournament twice, and its seen high-caliber players such as Jared Dudley, Tyler Hansbrough, Jodie Meeks, Harrison Barnes, Zach LaVine, and Doug McDermott strut their stuff. UC Irvine is the third Big West school to earn an invite joining Cal Poly in 2011 and CSUN in 2004.

READING UP ON RIDER
UC Irvine begins the consolation portion of the bracket with a first-time opponent out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the Rider Broncs.

Rider is based out of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, a town of less than 4,000 people that lays right in the middle of the route from Philadelphia to New York City. The university itself has an enrollment of just over 5,000 students, and Rider's Alumni Gymnasium holds about 1,650 fans at capacity. The Broncs have not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 1994 where it appeared in consecutive seasons as the Northeast Conference representative. They have one alum to reach the NBA in Jason Thompson who played eight years for Sacramento, Golden State, and Toronto.

The current Broncs are led by head coach Kevin Baggett in his sixth season and a very dynamic group of underclassmen on the court. Freshmen Jordan Allen (16.5 PPG) and Frederick Scott (11.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG) have guided Rider to an early 3-1 record highlighted by a win over George Washington on Monday, its first win over an Atlantic 10 opponent since 2010. Sophomore Stevie Jordan has also blossomed with 15.5 PPG for a very guard-heavy squad. Rider challenges UCI with a similar rebounding margin this year (6.8) despite only three players above 6'8", and they have taken care of the ball committing just 40 turnovers.

FRIDAY NIGHT'S MATCHUP
The Anteaters will follow up its Thursday game with a Friday matchup that is dependent on result with Rider. A Thursday night win will put UCI at a 7:30 p.m. start Friday while a Thursday loss will send UCI to the 11:00 a.m. slot. The opponent will either be a first-time look at Hampton University or a renewal of an old series with Northern Arizona.

Hampton is out of Hampton, Virginia and part of the MEAC conference, and have been that conference's NCAA Tournament representative six times including consecutive trips in 2015 and 2016. They famously upset Iowa State as a 15-seed back in 2001.

The Pirates have started 2017-18 out with a 1-4 record including a 15-point loss at Rider. The Pirates shoot better than 40% from the field led by Jermaine Marrow who has accounted for nearly one-third (99 of 313) of the team's shots as he's averaged 21.6 PPG. He also sets his teammates up well with 28 of the team's 53 assists, teammates like Greg Heckstall who averages 9.4 PPG and leads the squad with 6.6 rebounds per game.

The other potential matchup for UCI is Northern Arizona, a squad the 'Eaters have faced nine times in their history with a 4-5 record, but none since 1998. The Lumberjacks out of Flagstaff, Arizona have made the NCAA Tournament twice, in 1998 and 2000, and nearly earned upsets in each run as 15-seeds. Recently, they reached the championship game of the CIT in 2015 before losing to Evansville.

The 2017-18 season has started off rough with an 0-4 mark thus far dotted by 20+ point losses to Arizona State and Kansas State and a 12-point home loss to NAIA program Embry-Riddle. NAU has four players averaging eight points or more through four games led by a 10.5 average from Torry Johnson. He led his squad with 20 points against K-State, but the team turned the ball over 31 times in the loss. Big-man Brooks DeBisschop leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game while two of the team's top scorers, JoJo Anderson and Karl Harris, have come off the bench in each matchup.

SUNDAY WITH THE BRUINS
Keeping with the three-game week themes, UCI will return to Southern California to play at UCLA Sunday afternoon. The 3:00 p.m. match will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

The Bruins are ranked No. 23 in the nation, and are coming off its first loss, 100-89, Monday night at Creighton, along with a whirlwind trip to China resulting in a win over Georgia Tech and an overtime victory over Central Arkansas. UCLA still has a matchup with Wisconsin Tuesday before Sunday's matchup.

UCLA averages 88.5 points per game and have four players averaging double figures. Aaron Holiday leads the way with 17 PPG and 5.8 assists per game. Thomas Welsh is averaging a double-double with 13.8 PPG and 11.8 rebounds per game.

UCI and UCLA have met 10 times with UCLA winning the last six contests. Three of the last five contests have been decided by one point including a one-point overtime loss, 80-79, in 2012.

CHART-TOPPERS
Through five games, the 'Eaters rank fifth in the nation in blocks (30) and rebounds (216). Their average of 6.0 blocks per game is 30th in the nation. Jonathan Galloway ranks among the top 60 in the nation with two blocks per game, and his 10 blocks are 23rd in the country and most in the Big West.

UCI brings down an average of 15.2 offensive rebounds per game, 27th in the NCAA. Galloway leads that cause as well with 39 rebounds, 48th-best in the nation.

The Anteaters also lead the conference in assists with 73 (47th in the NCAA) captained by conference assist-leader Eyassu Worku with 20 (81st in the NCAA).

Worku has worked eight steals, 94th in the nation and second in the conference, behind only his teammate, Evan Leonard, whose 11 steals are 24th in the country. The program's 31 steals are best in the Big West and 84th in the country.

UCI leads the conference in three-point attempts with 105 which also ranks 66th nationally.

On the other end of the spectrum, the 'Eaters have committed 115 fouls, fifth-most in the NCAA, averaging 23 per game.

UC Irvine was 3-4 in neutral site games in 2016-17. They were 1-3 in non-conference matchups going 1-2 at the preseason Sanford Pentagon Showcase tournament and falling in the opener of the Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas to Akron.

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, however they do navigate a 16-game non-conference ledger where 12 games will be away from home including two different five-game road stretches.

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.