FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (6-1) at Saint Mary's (CA.) (3-3)
Wednesday, Nov. 28 | 7:00 p.m.
McKeon Pavilion (3,500) – Moraga, Calif.
Live Stats | KUCI Radio | Video

Utah State (5-1) vs. UC Irvine (6-1)
Saturday, Dec. 1 | 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | KUCI Radio | Video

Game Notes

OPENING TIPS
> The Anteaters opened the season with a 6-1 record, their best start since the 1981-82 season

> After defeating Santa Clara, the Anteaters extended their road-winning streak to seven games which ties the third-longest active road-win streak in DI

> UCI advanced to the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase before falling to tournament champion Toledo, 67-60

> Head coach Russell Turner earned his 163^rd career win against Tulane, which ties for second with Bill Mulligan in all-time career wins at UCI

> John Edgar Jr. was named to the Gulf Coast Showcase All-Tournament Team after averaging 12 points per game and three rebounds per game including hitting a season-high 16 points against Toledo in the championship game

> UCI has trailed or been tied at the half in four of its seven games and came back to win on all four occasions

> UCI is ranked No. 17 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll

ABOUT THE GAELS
> SMC is 3-3 on the season after dropping three-straight games with losses to Utah State (63-80), No. 15 Mississippi State (57-61), and Harvard (68-74)
> The Gaels are shooting 44.4 percent from the field and average 33.8 rebounds per game. Jordan Ford leads the team with 22 ppg while Malik Fitts is averaging 16.5 ppg. On defense, Fitts averages 9.2 rpg while Ford has 13 steals on the season
> SMC is ranked fourth in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major poll
> SMC was picked to finish second in the WCC preseason poll while Ford was named to the preseason All-WCC Team
> UCI is 5-7 all-time against the Gaels, dropping four-straight games against SMC over the last four seasons
> The 'Eaters last win against SMC came on Dec. 22 2002 when they won at Saint Mary's by a score of 62-50
> Last season the Anteaters fell to the Gaels 73-66, as Eyassu Worku led UCI with 13 points
> Randy Bennett is in his 18^th year as head coach of SMC

ABOUT THE AGGIES
> Utah State is 5-1 on the season with its only loss coming against Arizona State, 87-82, last Wednesday
> The Aggies will play Northern Iowa before making the trip to Irvine
> Utah State is shooting 48.5 percent from the field and averages 43.5 rebounds per game
> Sam Merrill leads the Aggies with 22.2 ppg while Dwayne Brown Jr. averages 11.5 ppg. On defense, Neemias Queta has 46 rebounds for 7.7 rpg and 15 blocks on the season
> Head coach Craig Smith is in his first season at the helm, joining the Aggies after four years at South Dakota
> UCI and USU meet for the fourth-straight season and 62^nd overall, marking the 7^th most meetings against a single opponent in program history behind only Pacific in terms of non-conference foes
> USU was once a Big West Conference member. Since leaving in 2005, UCI and USU have met five times with the Aggies holding a 3-2 lead. USU leads the all-time record 33-28
> Last season the Anteaters fell, 62-59, in Logan, Utah. Evan Leonard and Max Hazzard scored in double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively

GULF COAST TEST
> UCI finished 2-1 at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla., advancing to the championship game
> The Anteaters earned a 65-56 win over UTSA in the first round, a 67-55 victory over Tulane in the semifinals before falling to tournament champion, Toledo, 67-60
> Robert Cartwright hit a career-high 17 points in the win against UTSA and also tallied a career-high 3 three-pointers in that game
> Collin Welp tied a career-high 15 points and knocked down a career-best three 3-pointers in UCI's semifinal win over Tulane
> John Edgar Jr. finished with a season-best 16 points against Toledo and was named to the All-Tournament Teams after tallying 36 points (12.0 ppg) and nine rebounds (3.0) over three games
 
IN THE STATS
> Galloway leads UCI with 65 rebounds this season, which ranks 19^th nationally. He leads UCI with 9.3 rpg
> Elston Jones has a team-best 16 blocks this season which ranks 15th nationally and first in the BWC
> The Anteaters are ranked 18^th nationally in rebounding margin (+10.1)
> UCI ranks 7^th in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot just 35.4% from the field
> The Anteaters are 6^th in nation in total rebounds with 305 and 13^th in blocks with 36

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS
> Jonathan Galloway jumped to No. 7 in all-time rebounds with 741, surpassing Wayne Engelstad (698). Galloway is 185 rebounds away from becoming the all-time leader. Dave Baker currently holds the top spot with 926 career rebounds.

NEWS AND NOTES
> Head coach Russell Turner returns for his ninth season at the helm. Turner upped his career win total to 157 becoming the third coach in UCI history to eclipse 150 wins in a career and he's done it in just eight seasons averaging nearly 20 wins a season. He trails to Anteater coaching greats Bill Mulligan (163 career wins) and Pat Douglass (197 career wins) who each reached the 150-win plateau in their 10^th season
> The Anteaters have amassed a 64-17 record at home over the last six years 
> UCI plays 14 games at the Bren including three DI non-conference opponents in December
> Seven postseason teams dot the 2018-19 schedule
> The Anteaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll garnering 10 of the 24 first-place votes and 192 points
> Evan Leonard and Tommy Rutherford were selected to the six-member preseason all-conference team
> UCI returns 94.30 percent of its offense in 2018-19, the eighth best mark in the nation. The Anteaters are 1 of 14 teams nationally that return 90% or more offensively
> Defensively, UCI finished the 2017-18 season fifth in the NCAA in rebounds per game with a 41.2 average. The Anteaters also ranked third in defensive rebounds per game (29.2), sixth in total rebounds (1,443) and 10^th in rebounding margin (+7.5)
> The Anteaters were fifth in the nation last year allowing opponents to shoot 38.9% from the field. UCI is 1 of 10 schools to keep opponents under 40%, and 1 of 4 to keep them under 39%
> UCI finished with the stingiest scoring defense in the conference allowing 67.1 points per game. UCI also led the conference in rebounding for the fifth time in program history and fourth in the last five years
> Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook ranked UC Irvine No. 1 in its Big West preseason poll. It also picked Tommy Rutherford and Jonathan Galloway to the preseason all-conference team
> Over the past two seasons, the Anteaters are now 6-2 at a neutral site and 6-1 when playing games at arenas that also support a hockey rink

ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS 
> The Big West's two-time Defensive Player of the Year Jonathan Galloway returns for his final season, he led UCI in rebounding (7.6) and blocked shots (47) a year ago, becoming the 14^th Anteater to reach 600 career rebounds.
> Galloway has averaged 225 rebounds per season, a total that would put him near 1,000 career rebounds and well beyond the program's all-time leading rebounder, David Baker, standing 159 rebounds ahead of Galloway with 926
> Along with Galloway, three All-Big West selections return this season, headed by forward Tommy Rutherford on the first team, guard Evan Leonard on the second team, and guard Eyassu Worku honorable mention
> Leonard is the team's returning leading scorer at 13.6 points per game, topping the team in scoring in 15 games with 27 double-digit scoring games and nine times scoring 20 or more.
> Leonard finished among the Big West's leaders in scoring, 10^th at 13.6 ppg, as well as ninth in FT percentage (.793), eighth in 3-point percentage (.396), fourth in threes made (67), and third in overall steals (48)

NEW FACES
> UCI added four to the roster this season including grad transfer Robert Cartwright
> Cartwright graduated from Stanford last spring, playing three season for the Cardinal. He led Stanford in assist to turnover ratio at 2.14 last season, averaging 4.7 points and 2.3 assists
> The Anteaters also welcome freshmen JC Butler, Devin Cole and Aiden Krause
> Head coach Russell Turner announced the addition of Alex Young to his staff in 2018-19. Young returns to his alma mater as video coordinator. He was a four-year member of the UCI men's basketball team and graduated in 2016 as the only player in school history to record over 1000 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebound. Young was also a part of UCI's 2015 NCAA Tournament Team

UP NEXT
UCI travels up the road to play Cal Baptist Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.