Radio: Live broadcasts will be available on KUCI 88.9 FM and ucirvinesports.com with play-by-play from Trent Rush (Thursday) and Tim Becwar (Saturday)
Game will also be broadcasted on KLAA AM 830 Saturday
TV: Links to broadcasts for each game can be found on via ucirvinesports.com
Thursday's telecast will be on ESPN3 with announcers Sam Farber and Bill Herenda
Saturday's telecast will be on ESPNU with announcers

823 - The UC Irvine Anteaters are the nation's leader in rebounds with 823. The squad also ranks 13th in the NCAA in rebounds per game (41.2), 27th in defensive per game (28.6), and 34th in offensive (12.6), and 25th in rebound margin (+7.2)
5 - UC Irvine has had 5 20-point scorers on the season, all within the last six games. Evan Leonard has produced four of them setting new career highs twice. Eyassu Worku tied a career high with 20 points in the win over Long Beach State
100 - Jonathan Galloway's veteran presence is now being noted on UC Irvine's all-time rankings as he swatted away his 100th career block with two at CSUN Saturday night. He recently became the program's 24th member with 500 rebounds
8th - To this point in the season, UC Irvine has gone through the 23rd-toughest schedule in the NCAA. Its non-conference slate alone ranks as the 8th-toughest with six 2017 NCAA Tournament teams and 12 matchups away from home

ESPN3 HIGHLIGHTS MIDWEEK MUSTANG MATCHUP
The Big West schedules rolls along with another home-and-away week starting in the Bren Thursday night on ESPN3. It's UC Irvine's first look at Cal Poly since a 13-point drubbing at home last January. The Anteaters have the all-time series edge over the Mustangs, 30-22, and are 16-9 in the Bren and 10-6 against CP under coach Turner putting a victory together in six straight before the most recent meeting.
The Mustangs are just 6-11 thus far which featured a 2-6 mark in December with four losses coming by 20 or more points, but have a winning 4-3 record at home. UCI and CP have one common opponent in Idaho which Cal Poly lost to, 75-66, in the Great Alaska Shootout in late November. CP has turned it around in Big West play with a big win over rival UCSB, 80-79, and taking CSF to OT before falling by four. CP hasn't played since Wed. Jan. 10 with just one game last week falling at Hawai'i.
Victor Joseph is the team's scoring leader at 14.7 PPG dialed in from three-point range going 40-for-113 (35.4%) this year. Donovan Fields is another playmaker with 13.9 PPG along with 76 assists and 24 steals which each lead the team, all in 32.6 minutes a game, second in the Big West. The Mustangs match UCI's depth with 12 players playing in at least 10 games this year, nine of those players recording 10 or more minutes in each, and six players averaging at least seven points a contest. Hank Hollingsworth has turned away 37 shots as well, second in the conference.
Cal Poly is very secure with the ball turning the ball over 11.2 times a game, 22nd-best in the nation. CP is also the conference's premier three-point shooting team with 8.9 makes per game, but post a conference-worst 40.9 FG%. Cal Poly's defense has struggled as the Big West's bottomfeeder in FG% and 3PT% defense, and at 33.7 rebounds per game are at a large disadvantage against the 'Eaters.

ESPNU MATCHUP SATURDAY AS 'EATERS-GAUCHOS DUEL LATE NIGHT
The 'Eaters and Gauchos match up on Saturday night picking up the ESPNU coverage with the game now starting at 9:00 p.m. at the Thunderdome. UCSB's dynamic rise from a 9th-place Big West finish in 2016-17 with just four wins and a 6-22 overall record to a 12-5 mark this year which is tied for the best overall mark in the conference can be attributed to first-year coach Joe Pastrnack.
UCSB ran off seven straight non-conference wins against the likes of Montana (80-73) and San Diego (67-57) with some losses to top-tier programs like Texas A&M (65-84) and USC (87-98) mixed in. UCSB hit some road bumps with the start of conference play dropping a pair of one-point road matches to Cal Poly (79-80) and Hawai'i (76-77). The Gauchos did defeat UCR by eight at home, a place where UC Irvine will look to be the first opponent to win where UCSB is 7-0 and the Anteaters have never had much luck going 12-30 all-time. The series stands with UCSB, 51-37, but UC Irvine has taken six of the last eight include two straight at Santa Barbara.
All eyes have been on sophomore Max Heidegger all season as the conference's scoring leader at 21.6 PPG doing it mostly from three (55 makes, 3.2 per game) leading the conference's best offense at 77.9 points per game. Anteater rebounders will have some stiff competition with Leland King II (10.2 RPG) and Jalen Canty (7.6 RPG) ranked first and third in the conference. King brings down 8.4 defensive rebounds a game, third in the NCAA, and he can score with 16.7 PPG, part of nine double-doubles. Canty has slid home 11.8 PPG as well as leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game (3.5) and blocks (2.4). UCSB takes care of the ball extremely well, much like Cal Poly, with 11.4 turnovers a game and the 44th-best assist/turnover ratio in the nation led by the only players in the conference with a ratio over +2.0 in Gabe Vincent (+3.3) and Marcus Jackson (+2.3).

CHART-TOPPERS
The Anteaters completed its 16-game non-conference ledger. It's non-conference schedule ranks as the eighth-toughest in the NCAA equipped with 12 games away from home and six tournament teams from a year ago. The trek covered 11,715 miles with the Anteaters playing games in 10 different states.
The 'Eaters continue to rebound well with 41.2 per game (13th in NCAA) ranking 27th in defensive rebounds per game and 34th in offensive. The +7.2 rebound margin ranks 25th as UCI has hauled in 823 total rebounds to lead the nation. The 'Eaters have three of the conference's top seven rebounders and are 1 of 2 teams (UCSB) to have a pair of 100-rebound players in Jonathan Galloway (135) and Tommy Rutherford (101).
The Anteaters continue to set the standard in blocks with 93, 26th-most in the NCAA and most in the Big West. UCI averages 4.7 per game led by Jonathan Galloway whose 36 rank 44th nationally and is 69th in the nation with 1.80 per contest.
UCI has begun a return to its field goal defensive prowess. After a slow start to the season, opponents now average 40.2% per game, 40th in the NCAA and tops among Big West programs. UCI ranked sixth in the nation in that stat in 2016-17.
Through four conference games, the 'Eaters lead the Big West in 3-point percentage (44.9), rebounds allowed per game (29.0), rebounding margin (+10.5), and defensive rebounds per game (28.3)
They're among the top three in scoring defense (2nd - 64.5 PPG allowed), FG% defense (2nd - 41.8), 3-pt% defense (2nd - 31.3% allowed), rebounds (2nd - 39.5), offensive rebounds (2nd - 11.3), assists (3rd - 13.8), steals (3rd - 6.5), and three-pointers (3rd - 8.8) in per game stats
Anteater leaders through four conference games include two players among the top 10 scorers in Leonard and Worku (T8th - 15.8 PPG)...Galloway among the rebound leaders (6th - 7.3 RPG)... Leonard in FG% (8th - .545), Worku (9th - 3.3) and Max Hazzard (10th - 3.0) in assists per game... Leonard (3rd - 2.0 SPG) and Worku (10th - 1.5 SPG) in steals... three 'Eaters in made three-pointers with Hazzard (3rd - 3.0 3PG), Leonard (T5th - 2.5 3PG), and John Edgar Jr. (T10th - 1.8 3PG)... a pair of blockers in Rutherford (T6th - 1.3 BPG) and Galloway (T8th - 1.0 BPG)... a pair of positive players in assist/turnover ratio with Hazzard (T4th - +2.0) and Worku (10th - +0.8)... Galloway's rebounding on the offensive (T5th - 2.3 ORPG) and defensive (T7th - 5.0 DRPG) ends joined by Edgar Jr. (9th - 4.8 DRPG) defensively... and no Anteaters among the top 10 Big West minutes leaders (Worku, T14th - 32.5 MPG)
The 'Eaters had an eventful week putting up some notable numbers in the split with CSF and CSUN:
Thursday was the second consecutive game Evan Leonard had led the Anteaters in scoring and his third game of the season scoring 20 or more points, Leonard is shooting .575 (23-40) from the floor over the last three games
UCI hit 10 threes in a game for the fifth time this season at CSUN, second time in conference play, Max Hazzard has registered a three-pointer in all but four games this year
UCI has used the same starting lineup (Galloway, Edgar Jr., Rutherford, Leonard, Worku) in the last eight games
Tommy Rutherford played 27 minutes Saturday, one off a season high, and blocked three shots matching a season high, Rutherford led all Anteaters with four assists eclipsing a career high
UCI set season lows at the free throw line with 3 makes and 5 attempts, the 'Eaters are 29-of-42 from the line in conference games averaging 7.1 FTM and 10.5 FTA per game, least in both categories which includes four programs that have each played one less game
CSUN's 17 defensive rebounds matched a season low allowed by the 'Eaters (Whittier, the 23 rebounds allowed was a season low allowed by the 'Eaters, the previous low was 28 by Arizona State, CSUN recorded two steals, tied for the lowest from an Anteater opponent (Whittier, Idaho), CSUN committed the least amount of fouls by an Anteater opponent this season with 11
Galloway's 100th block came in his 95th career game

NEWS & NOTES
Brandon Smith was named to the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational All-Tournament Team scoring 18 points, dishing out four assists, and adding a pair of steals over an average of 21.5 minutes in the split against Rider and Northern Arizona.
Under head coach Russell Turner, UCI has won 114 games over the last five years, advancing to the postseason each of those years (2013 CIT, 2014 NIT, 2015 NCAA, 2016 CIT and 2017 NIT).
UCI has recorded five consecutive 20-win seasons, including 21-15 in 2016-17. In the past five seasons, UCI is 114-66 overall and 60-22 in Big West Conference games.
The 'Eaters were 12-4 in Big West play last season, winning those 12 by an average of 18.0 points.
UCI was 11-2 at home last season and has won 37 of its last 44 games (.841) in the Bren Events Center.
UCI will play 13 home games in 2017-18, however they do navigate a 16-game non-conference ledger where 12 games will be away from home including two different five-game road stretches.
UCI has won a conference-best 60 Big West games over the last five seasons (60-22, .732).
UCI has won outright, or shared, the Big West regular-season title three of the last four years, including the last two.
The Anteaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll garnering 14 of the 26 first-place votes, however, no 'Eaters were represented on media Preseason All-Big West squad.
College Sports Madness named three Anteaters to its Preseason All-Conference squad including Tommy Rutherford, Eyassu Worku, and Jonathan Galloway. Russell Turner was also mentioned as Preseason Coach of the Year for the publication.
The Anteaters ranked sixth in the nation last season in field-goal percentage defense at .383. The Anteaters were 17^th in rebound margin (6.7) and 29^th in scoring defense (64.8).
The 'Eaters have blocked 744 shots over the past four seasons for an average of 5.2 per game.  UCI returns three of its top four shot-blockers from last season.
The 'Eaters have won 72 of their last 77 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less.
Entering the season, UCI was 71-9 in its last 80 games when limiting the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field.
UCI had a tough non-conference schedule featuring six teams that saw action in the NCAA Tournament last season. The ledger clocks in as the 11th-toughest in college basketball this season.