IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine begins play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Wednesday night at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill.
Seventh-year head coach Russell Turner's Anteaters, 21-14 overall, are competing in the postseason for the fifth straight year as the Anteaters will face the Redbirds at 6:30 p.m. (PT) on ESPNU from Redbird Arena.
Illinois State (27-6), which is one of four top seeds in the NIT, earned a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a 17-1 mark and fell to Wichita State, 71-51, in the MVC Tournament championship game last Sunday.
Turner, the 2017 Big West Conference Coach of the Year, led UCI to the league's regular-season title with a 12-4 record, marking the third time in the past four years that the Anteaters won outright, or shared, the championship. UCI defeated UC Riverside and Long Beach State in the Big West Tournament before falling to UC Davis, 50-47, in the final Saturday night.
Turner's UCI teams have compiled 114 wins in the past five seasons, winning at least 20 games each of those years.
Senior guard Luke Nelson, the Big West Player of the Year, leads the Anteaters in scoring at 16.9 points per game and is UCI's all-time leader with 253 career threes.
Senior guard Jaron Martin, who joined Nelson on the All-Big West first team, is averaging 13.8 points and leads the Anteaters in assists (110), threes (75) and steals (29). He ranks sixth in UCI history with 185 threes.
Nelson and Martin were named to the 2017 All-Big West Tournament team.
Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos is averaging 11.0 points and 4.1 rebounds, plus has 31 blocked shots. He was named to the All-Big West second team this season.
Sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway, who was named the Big West's Best Defensive Player, leads the 'Eaters in rebounding at 7.5 boards per game and also tops the team with 39 blocked shots.
Senior forward Deontae Hawkins is averaging a team-leading 13.8 points and 6.6 rebounds for fifth-year head coach Dan Muller's Redbirds.
UCI and Illinois State have met once before, with the Redbirds winning 58-52 in the University Hoops Classic, hosted by Robert Morris University, Nov. 23, 2001, at Moon Township, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh.
This is the Anteaters' sixth appearance in the NIT. UCI previously competed in the NIT in 1982, 1986, 2001, 2002 and 2014.
UCI's NIT history (2-5):
1982
Won at San Diego State, 70-69
Lost at Oklahoma, 80-77
1986
Won at UCLA, 80-74
Lost at BYU, 93-80
2001
Lost at Tulsa, 75-71
2002
Lost at BYU, 78-55
2014
Lost at SMU, 68-54
