GAME #26
UC Irvine (13-12, 6-3) vs. UC Santa Barbara (3-18, 1-8)
Wednesday, February 8, 2017 – 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.

Series Record:  UCSB leads 51-36
Last Meeting:  UCI won 66-62 (1/12/17 in Santa Barbara)


Radio:  830 AM KLAA & KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
TV:  ESPN3 (Trent Rush & Richie Schueler)


Audio / Video / Live Stats / Tickets


UCI HOSTS UCSB WEDNESDAY:  UC Irvine hosts UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Conference game Wednesday night at the Bren Events Center as the Anteaters play four of their seven remaining league games at home.

UCI travels to Hawai'i Saturday evening before hosting UC Riverside Feb. 18 at 9:00 p.m. (ESPNU).

The Anteaters are in second place in the Big West with a 6-3 mark and looking to snap a three-game losing streak, including a 72-63 defeat at Long Beach State last Saturday.  Senior guard Luke Nelson returned to the UCI lineup and scored a team-high 17 points.

UCSB is 3-18 overall and 1-8 in the Big West, falling to UC Davis, 67-64, last Saturday for the Gauchos' sixth straight defeat.


THE SERIES:  UCSB leads the series, 51-36, after UCI held off the Gauchos, 66-62, in Santa Barbara Jan. 12.  Senior guards Jaron Martin and Luke Nelson scored 14 points each for the 'Eaters while Gabe Vincent led UCSB with 15.  Vincent is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered last Thursday.


'THINK PINK' GAME:  In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, UCI Athletics will host "Think Pink" games in February, beginning Wednesday night. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and $5 of each ticket purchased will be donated to the UC Irvine Breast Health Center.

The UCI Breast Health Center is one of only 20 accredited breast centers in California dedicated to the comprehensive care, multidisciplinary team approach to coordinating the best treatment options, and patient access to ongoing information about clinic trials and new treatment options.


INSIDE THE NUMBERS

● Senior guard Jaron Martin leads UCI in scoring (13.8), assists (84), threes (49), steals (20) and minutes played (743).  Martin has seven 20-point games this season, including a career-high 33 in the Dec. 19 overtime loss at New Mexico State.  He has scored 899 points in his Anteater career and has hit 159 threes to rank No. 8 in UCI history.

● Senior guard Luke Nelson is averaging 13.6 points in seven games this season, missing 18 contests with a hamstring injury.

● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos is averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 boards on the season with three double-doubles.  He has 658 points, 291 rebounds and 86 blocked shots in his career.

● Sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway leads UCI in rebounding at 7.2 per game, which ranks second in the Big West.  He has averaged 11.5 boards in the last four games and is tied for first in the Big West with 26 blocked shots.

● Freshman guard Eyassu Worku is averaging 7.9 points and is tied for the team lead with 20 steals. Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford is averaging 6.6 points and 5.2 boards, recording his first double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds at UC Davis Jan. 28. Redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard is averaging 5.9 points and freshman guard Evan Leonard 4.2 points.


UC IRVINE NOTES

● Through Monday's games, UCI is 10th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .387, 19th in rebound margin (+7.1), 56th in scoring defense (66.6) and 57th in total blocked shots (107). 

● UCI, 7-2 at home this season, has won 33 of its last 40 games in the Bren Events Center.

● UC Irvine's bench is outscoring the opposition's by an average of 27.0 to 18.8 in Big West games this season.

● In the past 12 games, the Anteaters have outrebounded the opponents by an average of 41.2 to 29.1.

● In the nine conference games, UCI has been outscored by 72 points from the free-throw line.

● UCI is 7-0 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 has won 66 of its last 69 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 8-1 this season. The Anteaters are 66-7 in their last 73 games when limiting the opposition to under 40 percent from the field.

● For all games, UCI ranks first in the Big West in scoring defense (66.6), field-goal percentage defense (.387), three-point field goal defense (.324), scoring margin (+3.7), rebound margin (+7.1), and blocked shots (107 total, 4.3 per game).

● Jonathan Galloway is second in the conference in rebounding (7.2), offensive rebounds per game (2.5) and third in blocked shots (1.00) for all games.  He tops the league in blocked shots in Big West contests at 1.2 per game.  Ioannis Dimakopoulos and Brandon Smith are tied for third in blocked shots in league games with 1.0 averages.

● Senior guard Jaron Martin has been named Big West Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 21 and Dec. 26). 

● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos 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.

● 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 10th in UCI history with 1,321 career points, fourth in career threes (218), fifth in assists (378) and fifth in steals (127).

● Redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard has averaged 11.5 points in the last four games and scored a career-high 22 in the Jan. 21 win at CSUN.

● Freshman Brad Greene pulled down seven rebounds in 12 minutes of action at Long Beach State last Saturday.


ON THIS DATE: Thirty-one years ago, on Feb. 8, 1986, UCI defeated Pacific, 80-76, at Crawford Hall as Tod Murphy scored 20 points.

Johnny Rogers added 16 points and Scott Brooks 14 for the Anteaters, who shot 54.7 percent from the field.

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