GAME #30
UC Irvine (16-13, 9-4) vs. CSUN (11-15, 7-6)
Saturday, February 25, 2017 – 7:30 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.

Series Record:  UCI leads 33-24
Last Meeting:  UCI won 105-73 (1/21/17 in Northridge)

Radio:  KLAA 830 AM & KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan)
TV:  ESPN3 (Trent Rush, Bill Herenda & Courtney Sweet)


Audio / ESPN3 / Live Stats / Tickets


'EATERS HOST MATADORS IN HOMECOMING GAME:  UC Irvine hosts CSUN in the Anteaters' Homecoming game Saturday night as the top defensive team in the Big West (UCI, 65.1) takes on the top offensive squad (CSUN, 78.7).

UCI and UC Davis are tied for first in the Big West with 9-4 league marks as six teams are within two games of the top spot, including CSUN at 7-6, with one week left in the regular season.

The Big West Tournament is at the Honda Center in Anaheim March 9-11.

The Anteaters fell 56-54 at Cal State Fullerton Wednesday night while the Matadors were defeated by UC Davis, 96-85, on the road Thursday evening.

Senior guard Luke Nelson led UCI with 20 points in the loss at Fullerton and Darin Johnson had 24 for CSUN in the UC Davis game.

UCI has two Big West games remaining following the CSUN contest.  The Anteaters travel to UC Riverside Wednesday (7:00 p.m., ESPN3) before hosting UC Davis next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (Prime Ticket) on Senior Day.


THE UCI-CSUN SERIES:  UCI leads the series, 33-24, including a 105-73 win at Northridge Jan. 21 as Jaron Martin scored 26 points, Max Hazzard a career-high 22 and Ioannis Dimakopoulos added 19.

Kendall Smith and Rakim Lubin led the Matadors with 13 points apiece.

UCI has won the last five meetings in the series.


INSIDE THE NUMBERS

● Senior guard Jaron Martin leads UCI in assists (95), threes (60) and minutes played (852).  Martin has eight 20-point games this season, including a career-high 33 in the Dec. 19 overtime loss at New Mexico State.  He has scored 946 points in his Anteater career and has hit 170 threes to tie Chris Brown (1993-95) for sixth all-time at UCI.

● Senior guard Luke Nelson leads UCI in scoring at 15.4 points per game as he has played in 11 games this season, missing 18 with a hamstring injury, including the season's first 15 contests.  UCI is 9-2 this season when Nelson is in the lineup.

● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos is averaging 11.3 points and 4.3 boards on the season with three double-doubles.  He has 700 points, 308 rebounds and 88 blocked shots in his career.

● Sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway leads UCI in rebounding at 7.4 per game, which ranks second in the Big West.  He has 80 rebounds over the last 10 games for a 10.0 average.  Galloway is averaging 4.3 points per game.

● Freshman guard Eyassu Worku is averaging 8.1 points and leads the team with 23 steals. Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford is averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 boards, and redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard is averaging 5.6 points.


UC IRVINE NOTES

● Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters have won 109 games in the last 4-plus seasons (since the start of the 2012-13 season).  The Anteaters are 109-64 in that span.

● Through Thursday's games, UCI is seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .383, 18th in rebound margin (+6.9), 38th in scoring defense (65.1) and 67th in total blocked shots (120).  The Anteaters are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 39.8 to 32.0 in league play.

● UCI has won 69 of its last 73 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 10-2 this season. The Anteaters are 68-8 in their last 76 games when limiting the opposition to under 40 percent from the field.

● UC Irvine's bench is outscoring the opposition's by an average of 27.3 to 17.7 this season.

● UCI is 8-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.

● UCI's eight-game winning streak from Dec. 22 to Jan. 21 was the program's longest in 11 years.

● UCI, 9-2 at home this season, has won 35 of its last 42 games in the Bren Events Center.

● Senior guard Luke Nelson, who leads the 'Eaters in scoring at 15.4 points per game, is tied for second in UCI career history with Ross Schrader (2002-06) with 233 threes. Nelson is three behind all-time Anteater leader Michael Hunter, who hit 236 treys from 2006-10.  Nelson is fifth in assists (386), fifth in steals (132) and eighth with 1,395 career points.

● 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). 

● Senior guard Jaron Martin has been named Big West Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 21 and Dec. 26).  He leads the Big West in assist-turnover ratio at 1.9.

● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos ranks second in the Big West in field-goal percentage for conference games at .550.  He was named Big West Player of the Week Jan. 23 after averaging 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in wins over Cal Poly and CSUN.

● Sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the 64-47 win over UC Santa Barbara Feb. 8.

● Galloway leads the Big West in offensive rebounds for all games at 2.5 per contest (3.3 in league games) and he is second in the Big West in rebounding with a 7.4 average.

● Freshman guard Eyassu Worku was 8 for 8 from the field, scoring a career-high 20 points, and added five assists in last Saturday's 79-60 win over UC Riverside.

● Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford registered his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 11 boards at UC Davis Jan. 28.  He has averaged 6.0 rebounds over the last six games.