Radio: Live broadcasts will be available on KUCI 88.9 FM and ucirvinesports.com with play-by-play from Trent Rush. Game will also be broadcasted on KLAA AM 830 Wednesday
TV: Links to broadcasts for each game can be found on via ucirvinesports.com
Wednesday's broadcast will be on ESPN3 with announcers Sam Farber and Richie Schueler
Wednesday's telecast at Long Beach will be shown on FOX Prime Ticket

895 - UC Irvine has snapped up 895 rebounds this season, second in the nation behind only Minnesota's 896. UCI
is the only team in the conference with three players over 100 total rebounds (Galloway - 159, Rutherford - 124, Jones - 110)
6 - UC Irvine has had 6 20-point scorers on the season, all within the last nine games. Evan Leonard has produced four setting new career highs twice. Eyassu Worku's 20 tied a career high while Tommy Rutherford set a new high with 20 vs. CP
100 - Jonathan Galloway's is climbing up UC Irvine's all-time rankings as he swatted away his 100th career block with two at CSUN. He recently became the program's 24th player with 500 career rebounds passing Mamadou Ndiaye  for 18th place with 572
10.6 - UC Irvine is averaging 10.6 free-throw attempts through its six Big West games. On the season, it averages 16.8 FT per game compared to 24.3 FT it allows per game. UCI is averaging 18.8 FT in its eight wins and 15.7 in its 14 losses

ANTEATERS-HIGHLANDERS SETUP UP FOR BREN MATCHUP ON ESPN3
The 'Eaters return to .500 in conference play and are back home in the Bren Events Center for the last match before a week off of basketball.

Most of the news for UC Riverside has come off the court with the abrupt firing of their coach, Dennis Cutts, at the conclusion of non-conference play. In the interim, Justin Bell, an assistant for five years and Highlander basketball alum from 2007, has assumed the head position and is still in search of his first head coaching victory.

UCR showed a lot of promise after a 5-9 run in non-conference highlighted by a win at Cal, its only road win, and home victories over Air Force and Valparaiso along with tough tests at Michigan, Grand Canyon, and Montana. The Highlanders have started Big West play 0-5, but four of the five losses have come by single-digits including at Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara.

UCI took all three matchups with the Highlanders last season including a nine-point win in the Big West Tournament quarterfinal. All-time, UCI holds a 40-24 edge in the series backed by 20 wins in 26 matchups at home. Coach Turner has had success with a 13-5 mark pulling out a victory in 10 of the last 11 and six straight in the Bren.

UC Riverside has been successful behind its defense allowing just over 70 points a game with squads shooting a hair over 40%, percentage points behind UCI for the best in the conference. The sit within the top three in the conference in FG and 3pt % defense in addition to being one of the better offensive rebounding teams, at coaxing steals, and forcing turnovers. UCR does stand near the bottom of the conference in offense with 66.5 points a game and does not shoot the ball from beyond the arc very well averaging just 5.4 a game and a 30.4 percentage.

Dikymbe Martin has been the catalyst leading the squad with 13.1 points over 32.2 minutes per game in addition to being among the team's leaders in shooting percentage, rebounds, assists, and steals. Chance Murray has also averaged double-digit points in at least 30 minutes a game with the inate ability to rebound and steal the ball. Alex Larsson has been steady down low averaging 10.5 points a game and leading the team in rebounds, and has really stepped up in big games with his three double-doubles coming at Cal, Grand Canyon, and UC Santa Barbara.

In addition to the game, the coaching staff will observe Coaches vs. Cancer week and wear sneakers with their suits on the sideline during Wednesday's game.

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 40.7 per game (15th in NCAA) ranking 25th in defensive rebounds per game and 46th in offensive. The +6.6 rebound margin ranks 21st as UCI has hauled in 895 total rebounds, second nationally only to Minnesota (896). The 'Eaters have three of the conference's top seven rebounders and are the only school with three 100-rebound players in Jonathan Galloway (159), Tommy Rutherford (124), and Elston Jones (118).

The Anteaters continue to set the standard in blocks with 95, 39th-most in the NCAA and most in the Big West, averaging 4.3 a game. Jonathan Galloway ranks 50th with 38 nationally and is 67th in the nation with 1.73 per contest.

UCI has begun a return to its field goal defensive prowess. After a slow start to the season, opponents now average 40.5% 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 six conference games, the 'Eaters lead the Big West defensive rebounds per game (27.5)

They're among the top three in 3-point FG percentage (2nd - 39.0%), 3-pointers made (3rd - 7.7 per game), rebounds per game (2nd - 38.3),  rebounds allowed per game (2nd - 31.2), rebounding margin (2nd - +7.2), scoring defense (3rd - 66.8 PPG), FG defense (3rd - 42.4% allowed), and 3pt defense (3rd - 31.3% allowed).

Anteater leaders through six conference games include Rutherford in FG % (8th - .522)...Galloway in rebounding (6th - 7.0 per game), offensive rebounds per game (3rd - 2.7), and blocks per game (T9th - 1.0)...Evan Leonard with assist-to-turnover ratio (9th - +1.3), threes per game (T7th - 2.0), assists (T10th - 3.0 per game), and steals (3rd - 1.8 per game)...Max Hazzard in three-pointers made (2nd - 2.7 per game) and three-point percentage (6th - .485)...Eyassu Worku in assists per game (5th - 3.7) and three-point percentage (10th - .350) while falling outside the top 15 in conference minutes despite leading the team (19th - 31.5 per game).

UCI has put up some notable numbers during last week's split:

Eyassu Worku has recorded points in double-figures in eight consecutive games

UC Irvine won back-to-back games for just the second time on the season (Denver and Chapman) when it took down CSUN and Cal Poly. It's led at the half in five of its six conference games winning three and losing to CSF and UCSB.

UCI has used the same starting lineup (Galloway, Edgar Jr., Rutherford, Leonard, Worku) in each of the last ten games

UCI has attempted less than 10 free throws in 3 of 6 Big West games (9 at UCSB, 6 vs. LBSU, 5 at CSUN). The 'Eaters are 44-for-64 from the line in conference games averaging 7.3 FTM and 10.6 FTA per game, well below the rest of the conference which includes six programs that have each played one less game

Galloway's 100th block came in his 94th career game vs. CSUN. His nine rebounds passed Mamadou Ndiaye for 18th on the all-time rebound list for the Anteaters. He pulled down double-digit rebounds for the fifth time this season and is the ninth time he has led the team on the boards, and will enter the UCR contest with 572 career rebounds

UCI was outrebounded for just the fourth time on the year vs. UCSB, and the -12 rebounding margin is its largest disparity previously held at -8 (Montana)

UC Irvine committed just nine turnovers at UCSB, the third time this season with less than 10 turnovers in a game (8 vs. Chapman, 9 vs. Idaho)

Saturday's loss was only the second this season in which UCI committed fewer turnovers than its opponent (Cal State Fullerton)

The 24 first half points for UCSB was the lowest first half total allowed to a Division I opponents this season by UCI (22 - Chapman)

Evan Leonard's 35 minutes eclipsed his previous career high of 33 set against Nevada

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.