GAME #36
UC Irvine (21-14) at Illinois State (27-6)
Wednesday, March 15, 2017 – 6:30 p.m. (PT)
Redbird Arena (10,200) – Normal, Illinois
Series Record: ISU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: ISU won 58-52 (11/23/01 in Moon, Pa.)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan)
TV: ESPNU (Mitch Holthus & Mark Adams)
Audio / Video / Tickets
NIT Bracket
UCI Game Notes
'EATERS FACE REDBIRDS IN NIT 1ST ROUND: UC Irvine (21-14) takes on No. 1 seed Illinois State (27-6) in a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) first-round game Wednesday night in Normal, Ill.
Seventh-year head coach Russell Turner's Anteaters won the Big West Conference regular-season title this season with a 12-4 mark, marking the third time in the past four years that UCI has won outright, or shared, the league championship.
The top-seeded Anteaters defeated UC Riverside (76-67) and Long Beach State (62-57) in their first two Big West Conference Tournament games this past weekend before falling to No. 2 seed UC Davis, 50-47, in Saturday night's final at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Illinois State, under fifth-year head coach Dan Muller, earned a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a 17-1 mark. The Redbirds fell to Wichita State, 71-51, in the league tournament's final last Sunday.
Illinois State has a 1-0 series lead over UCI, as the Redbirds defeated the Anteaters, 58-52, in the University Hoops Classic at Moon Township, Pa., Nov. 23, 2001.
5TH STRAIGHT POSTSEASON TOURNEY: This is UCI's fifth consecutive postseason appearance as the Anteaters competed in the 2013 CIT, 2014 NIT, 2015 NCAA and 2016 CIT).
5 STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS: Coach Russell Turner has led UCI to five consecutive 20-win seasons. The Anteaters have won 114 games overall and 60 Big West regular-season contests in that span.
6TH NIT APPEARANCE: This is UCI's sixth appearance in the NIT. The Anteaters are 2-5 in the tournament, recording first-round wins over San Diego State, 70-69, in 1982 and UCLA, 80-74, in 1986.
UCI's NIT history:
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
UC IRVINE NOTES
● Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters are 114-65 (.637) in the last five seasons (2012-present) and 60-22 (.732) in Big West games over that span.
● UCI has won 16 of its last 21 games entering Wednesday night's NIT contest.
● As of Monday morning, UCI is sixth in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .379, 14th in rebound margin (+7.0), 27th in scoring defense (64.2), 38th in three-point field goal defense (.317), and 41st in total blocked shots (152).
● UCI, which leads the Big West in blocked shots at 4.3 per game, had 10 rejections in last Friday night's league tourney semifinal win over Long Beach State, the second-most in conference tournament single-game history.
● In Big West games this season, the Anteaters outrebounded their opponents by an average of 40.4 to 31.9.
● UCI, at 21-14, has recorded its fifth consecutive 20-win season and 10th overall in program history.
● UCI has won 72 of its last 77 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 14-3 this season. The Anteaters are 71-9 in their last 80 games when limiting the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field.
● UCI is 8-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
● UCI won its 12 Big West games this season by an average of 18.0 points.
● Four UCI players have at least 20 blocked shots this season: Jonathan Galloway (39), Tommy Rutherford (32), Ioannis Dimakopoulos (31) and Brandon Smith (23).
● Big West Player of the Year Luke Nelson has six 20-point games this season. His 16.9 scoring average this season is the highest for a UCI player since Darren Moore averaged 17.0 in 2010-11.
● Nelson, who led the 'Eaters with 14 points and eight rebounds in Saturday night's loss to UC Davis, ranks first in UCI career history with 253 threes and fifth with 1,514 points, 406 assists and 140 steals.
● UCI is 14-3 this season when Nelson is in the lineup.
● Nelson was named to the All-Big West first team for the second straight season and the Big West All-Tournament team for the third consecutive year.
● Senior guard Jaron Martin was named to the 2017 All-Big West first team this season. He led the Big West in assist-turnover ratio at 2.8 in league games. Martin leads the team with 29 steals.
● Martin, who leads UCI in assists (110) and threes (75), is second on the team in scoring with a 13.8 average. He has nine 20-point games this season, including a career-high 33 in the Dec. 19 overtime loss at New Mexico State. He has scored 1,038 career points to become the 27th player in Anteater history to reach 1,000.
● Martin has hit 185 career threes to rank sixth all-time at UCI.
● Martin was selected as Big West Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 21 and Dec. 26).
● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos is averaging 11.0 points and 4.1 boards on the season with three double-doubles. He ranked second in the Big West in field-goal percentage for league games at .549 this season. Dimakopoulos, who scored 10 points in the Big West tourney final loss to UC Davis, has 757 points, 327 rebounds and 95 blocked shots in his career.
● The 7-2 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.
● Sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway leads UCI in rebounding at 7.5 per game, which ranks second in the Big West for all games. Of his 262 boards this season, 96 have come off the offensive glass.
● Galloway had 13 rebounds in last Thursday's Big West Tournament quarterfinal win over UC Riverside, marking the ninth time this season he has reached double-digit boards.
● Galloway recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the 64-47 win over UC Santa Barbara Feb. 8
● Freshman guard Eyassu Worku is averaging 7.3 points and is tied for third on the team with 25 steals. Worku was 8 for 8 from the field, scoring a career-high 20 points, and added five assists in the 79-60 win over UC Riverside Feb. 18.
● Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford registered his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 11 boards at UC Davis Jan. 28. He had 11 points in Saturday's loss to UC Davis and 11 rebounds in the March 4 win over the Aggies. He is averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on the season, and ranks second on the team with 32 blocked shots.
● Sophomore forward Brandon Smith is second on the team with 27 steals and has 23 blocked shots.
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