GAME #33
#1 UC Irvine (19-13) vs. #8 UC Riverside (7-20)
Big West Conference Tournament Quarterfinal
Thursday, March 9, 2017 – 6:00 p.m.
Honda Center (17,608) – Anaheim, Calif.
Series Record: UCI leads 39-24
Last Meeting: UCI won 68-56 (3/1/17 in Riverside)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Michael O'Sullivan & Steve Henkle)
TV: FOX Prime Ticket (tape-delayed, 10:30 p.m.)
(Mark Rogondino, Corey Maggette & Rahshaun Haylock)
Audio / Video / Live Stats / Ticket Information
Big West Championship Central
UC Irvine Tournament Notes
UC IRVINE OPENS WITH UC RIVERSIDE THURSDAY IN BIG WEST TOURNEY: Top-seeded UC Irvine (19-13) opens against No. 8 UC Riverside (7-20) in a Big West Conference Tournament quarterfinal Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
This will be the third time in less than three weeks that the teams have met, as UCI won 79-60, at the Bren Events Center Feb. 18 and 68-56 in Riverside last Wednesday. The 'Eaters, who have won 10 of the past 11 meetings, are 3-0 against the Highlanders in Big West tourney games.
UCI defeated UC Davis, 79-49, in the Bren Center Saturday to clinch the Big West regular-season title with a 12-4 mark. Senior guard Luke Nelson scored 29 points for his fourth straight 20-point game and sixth of the season.
This is the third time in the last four years that the Anteaters have won outright or shared the conference regular-season title.
TELEVISION COVERAGE THURSDAY: Thursday's game will be tape-delayed on Prime Ticket until 10:30 p.m., but fans can follow the game live on KUCI/88.9 FM and at foxsportsgo.com and on Fox College Sports Pacific.
UCI'S BIG WEST TOURNEY HISTORY: This is the 35th year that the Anteaters will compete in the Big West Tournament. UCI is 28-33 in its previous 34 appearances, reaching the semifinals 17 times and the final on five occasions. The 'Eaters have won seven of their last 10 games played in the tourney.
UCI defeated Cal Poly, 84-64, in the quarterfinals last year before falling to Long Beach State, 77-72, in the semifinals.
The Anteaters won the program's first Big West tourney title in 2015 and advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the initial time, narrowly losing to three-time national champion Louisville, 57-55.
2017 BIG WEST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All Times Pacific
THURSDAY, MARCH 9 – QUARTERFINALS
Session #3 – FSN WEST/PRIME TICKET
#2 UC Davis vs. #7 Cal Poly 12:00 pm
#3 Cal State Fullerton vs. #6 CSUN 2:30 pm
#1 UC Irvine vs. #8 UC Riverside 6:00 pm
#4 Long Beach State vs. #5 Hawai'i 8:30 pm
FRIDAY, MARCH 10 – SEMIFINALS
Session #5 – ESPNU & ESPN3
Highest Remaining Seeded Team vs. 6:30 pm
Lowest Remaining Seeded Team
Other Session #3 Winners 9:00 pm
SATURDAY, MARCH 11 – CHAMPIONSHIP
Session #7 - ESPN2
Semifinal Winners 8:30 pm
BIG WEST HONORS FOR UCI: Big West regular-season champion UC Irvine earned a majority of the awards as the 2017 all-conference and specialty teams were announced Monday.
Seventh-year head coach Russell Turner was named Big West Coach of the Year after leading the Anteaters to the league's regular-season title for the third time in four years and the top seed for this week's conference tournament.
Turner, who also won the award in 2014, has led UCI to a 19-13 overall record and a 12-4 mark in Big West play this season. His Anteaters have won 14 of their last 18 games entering the conference tourney.
Turner has led UCI to 112 overall wins and 60 Big West victories in the past five seasons.
Senior guard Luke Nelson was named Big West Player of the Year, UCI's first such honoree since Jerry Green won the award in 2001 and 2002. Nelson is the fourth Anteater player in history to earn the award. In addition to Green, Kevin Magee was named the league's top player in 1981 and 1982, and Raimonds Miglinieks collected the honor in 1996.
Nelson, who was also named to the All-Big West first team for the second straight year, leads the 'Eaters in scoring at 17.2 points per game with six 20-point games this season, including the last four contests.
Nelson's 17.2 scoring average this season is the highest for an Anteater player since Jerry Green averaged 20.3 points in the 2001-02 season.
Nelson scored 29 points in Saturday's 79-49, title-clinching victory over UC Davis. Nelson is UCI's all-time leader with 247 threes (10th in Big West history) and he ranks fifth in the Anteater career record book with 395 assists and 138 steals. He is eighth in scoring with 1,467 points as he moves closer to No. 7 Kevin Magee (1,475).
UCI senior guard Jaron Martin also was selected to the All-Big West first team. He is averaging 13.9 points per game with nine 20-point games this season.
Martin leads the 'Eaters with 70 threes this season as he ranks No. 6 in UCI career history with 180 treys.
Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos was named to the All-Big West second team. He is averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 rebounds this season, and has 26 blocked shots.
Sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway was named the Big West's Best Defensive Player, the fourth time that a UCI player has earned the award in the past five years.
He is averaging 7.4 rebounds in all games to rank second in the Big West and 8.4 boards in league contests. Galloway leads the Anteaters with 32 blocked shots this season.
UC IRVINE NOTES
● Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters are 112-64 (.636) in the last five seasons (2012-present) and 60-22 (.732) in Big West games over that span.
● Through Monday's games, UCI is seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .381, 10th in rebound margin (+7.4), 22nd in three-point field goal defense (.310), 34th in scoring defense (64.8) and 63rd in total blocked shots (135). The Anteaters outrebounded their opponents by an average of 40.4 to 31.9 in Big West games.
● UCI is one win away from recording its fifth consecutive 20-win season and 10th overall in program history.
● UCI has won 71 of its last 75 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less, including 13-2 this season. The Anteaters are 70-8 in their last 78 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 (32), Tommy Rutherford (30), Ioannis Dimakopoulos (26) and Brandon Smith (22).
● Luke Nelson was named Big West Player of the Week Monday after averaging 25.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in last week's wins over UC Riverside and UC Davis.
● Nelson is averaging 23.0 points over the past four games. He has six 20-point games this season, including the last four. His 17.2 scoring average this season is the highest for a UCI player since Jerry Green's 20.3 average in 2002.
● Nelson ranks first in UCI career history with 247 threes, fifth with 395 assists and 138 steals, and eighth with 1,467 points as he closes in on No. 7 Kevin Magee (1,475).
● UCI is 12-2 this season when Nelson is in the lineup.
● 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 2.8 in league games. Martin leads the team with 25 steals.
● Martin, who leads UCI in assists (104) and threes (70), is second on the team in scoring with a 13.9 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 998 points as he looks to become the 27th player in Anteater history to score 1,000.
● Martin has hit 180 career threes to rank sixth all-time at UCI.
● Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos is averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 boards on the season with three double-doubles. He ranked second in the Big West in field-goal percentage for league games at .549. Dimakopoulos has 737 points, 321 rebounds and 90 blocked shots in his career.
● 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 7.4 per game, which ranks second in the Big West for all games. Of his 237 boards this season, 87 have come off the offensive glass.
● Galloway leads the Big West in offensive rebounds for all games at 2.7 per contest and 3.6 in conference contests.
● 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 7.7 points and is second on the team with 24 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. Worku is
● Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford registered his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 11 boards at UC Davis Jan. 28. He had 11 rebounds in last Saturday's win over UC Davis and is averaging 6.2 points and 5.5 rebounds on the season.
● Sophomore forward Brandon Smith is tied for third on the team lead with 23 steals.
● Redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard is averaging 5.3 points with a career-high 22 in the Jan. 21 win at CSUN.
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