At the game: Fans attending the men's basketball game on Dec. 2 against Nevada can participate in the inaugural "Toy Toss". Fans are encouraged to bring new, plush donation items to their seats and when instructed at halftime will be invited to throw their items onto the court in a synchronized and celebratory fashion.
Radio: Live broadcast will be available on KUCI 88.9 FM and ucirvinesports.com with play-by-play from Trent Rush
TV: Both games will be streamed via ucirvinesports.com
  
POINTS IN THE PAINT 
.727 - Tommy Rutherford leads the conference with a .727 shooting percentage making 32 of his 44 shots including two 3-pointers. His 79 points scored ranks 10th in the Big West
46 - UCI defeated NAU after trailing by 6 at the half, a feat they had not accomplished in 46 games dating back to a 2016 win in the CIT over North Dakota in which they trailed at the half by 4
11 - In 20 career matchups between UCI and Nevada, 11 of the games have been Decided by single-digits including 5 of the 8 meetings in the Bren Events Center

POETRY IN MOTION
Whittier College is the second Division III squad out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) to enter the Bren this season. Its only the second meeting between the schools, first since December of 1970 when UCI beat Whittier, 68-59, in a neutral-site game at Cal State Fullerton.

Whittier College is a four-year liberal arts college of around 1,700 undergraduates that was established in 1887. It has a long-standing history in football producing legendary coaches like Hall of Famer George Allen and Don Coryell. The school has had a more noteworthy alumni in the arts like actress Lupita Nyong'o, and its most prominent alumni in Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States.

Whittier's basketball team is 1-3 on the young season which has included an exhibition loss to Bakersfield, 88-66, earlier this month. The Poets are shooting 45.6% on the year and average nine threes per game along with 10 steals.

The senior trio of Victor Nwaba (31.8 minutes per game, 20.8 points per game), Eric Davis (28.5 MPG, 9.8 PPG), and Louis Kurihara (25.5 MPG, 10.0 PPG) pace the Poets with contributions from sophomore Nick Potthoff (25.5 MPG, 9.8 PPG) in the forward position and coming off the bench Conner Longmire is the team's second-leading scorer with 11 points per game in over 18 minutes.

PACKING A PUNCH
UCI finishes the week at home Saturday with a return trip from the Nevada Wolf Pack. Nevada hosted UCI in 2016 defeating them, 76-69. The Wolf Pack are coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament last year, their first since 2007, where they were a 12-seed losing in the opening round to Iowa State finishing the season with 28 wins.

Nevada is two years removed from a CBI championship as the squad has had consecutive 20-win seasons guided by Eric Musselman who has been an associate and assistant at Arizona State and LSU, but also has NBA experience as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the 2000s as well as an assistant at Orlando, Atlanta, and Memphis.

The Wolf Pack is rolling to another 20-win season going 6-0 early on as it sits right on the edge of the top 25 rankings. Nevada has posted wins over future UCI opponents Idaho (88-64) and Hawai'i (67-54) along with quality results over Davidson (81-68) and Rhode Island (88-81). Nevada hosts Illinois State prior to travelling to UC Irvine, and also plays UC Davis in December before its Mountain West slate.

The engine centers around identical twin brothers Cody and Caleb Martin, both 6-7, 205-lb juniors. Cody is the minutes leader with 36.2 per game averaging 15.2 points per game. Caleb, meanwhile, cracked the starting lineup in each of the last two contests and played all 40 minutes in each, and has posted 20-point efforts in four games this season including double-doubles against Rhode Island and Hawai'i.

Other Wolf Pack contributors are junior Jordan Caroline whose averaging 9.2 rebounds per game along with his 17.2 PPG, second on the squad, as well as 6-7, sophomore guard Josh Hall who is averaging 10.3 PPG and 26.8 minutes off the bench.

The 'Eaters and Wolf Pack are meeting for the 21st time and sixth in the last 12 seasons. Nevada was a Big West Conference member from 1992-2000 with Nevada winning nine of the 14 matches during that stretch including two meetings in the Big West Tournament in 1995 and 1998. The series started in 1985 with an 89-86 defeat in Reno as UCI is just 6-14 all-time.

'EATER EXPLOITS
In UC Irvine's 77-71 victory over Northern Arizona on Friday, the 'Eaters overcame a 13-point deficit to win which was larger than any deficit it overcame in the entire 2016-17 season. UCI also came back from a six-point halftime deficit which is something it was unable to accomplish in the 10 times it trailed at the half in 2016-17.

Brandon Smith was named to the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational All-Tournament Team scoring 18 points, dishing out four assists, and adding a pair of steals over an average of 21.5 minutes in the split against Rider and Northern Arizona.

 John Edgar Jr. has hit a three-pointer in all eight games this season, and his 13 points at UCLA matched a career high he set in a win at Santa Clara last season.

Max Hazzard tied a career high with five three-pointers in the loss to UCLA, a mark he also reached in the loss to Arizona State the previous weekend. Hazzard's performance at UCLA was especially memorable as his grandfather, Walt, was a two-time All-American and national champ for the Bruins during John Wooden's first title run.

CHART-TOPPERS
Through eight games, the 'Eaters rank fourth in the nation in rebounds and fifth in blocks. Their average of 5.5 blocks per game is 36th in the nation led by Jonathan Galloway whose 23rd in total blocks (15) and 69th with 1.88 per game. Brad Greene's 10 blocks are also top 100 in the country.

UC Irvine also stands 36th nationally with 13.75 offensive rebounds per game and their 41.13 total rebounds per game are 50th in the NCAA. Galloways has grabbed 57 boards good for 50th in the nation and second in the Big West. The offensive glass has been a team effort with Elston Jones leading the squad with 2.57 per contest.

The Anteaters also lead the conference in assists with 115 (29th in the NCAA) captained by  team leader Eyassu Worku with 34, good for 46th nationally and second in the conference.

The Big West's top two steals leaders are also Anteaters in Evan Leonard with 12 and Worku with 11 which both rank within the top 100 in the NCAA. As a team, the Anteaters are 80th nationally in steals and two off of the Big West lead.

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, however, no 'Eaters were represented on media Preseason All-Big West squad.

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.