FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (7-2) at California Baptist (4-4)
Wednesday, Dec. 5 | 7:00 p.m.
CBU Events Center (5,050) – Riverside, Calif.
Live Stats | KUCI Radio |Video

Montana (4-2) vs. UC Irvine (7-2)
Saturday, Dec. 8 | 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | KUCI Radio & AM830 | Video

Game Notes

OPENING TIPS
> The Anteaters opened the season with a 7-2 record, including a 7-1 start during the month of November, marking the best start since the 1981-82 season

> After defeating Saint Mary's, the Anteaters extended their road-winning streak to eight games which marks the fourth-longest active road-win streak in DI

> UCI suffered its worst loss of the season, 89-65, to Utah State last Saturday, marking the first 24-point loss since last year at UCLA

> Head coach Russell Turner earned his 164^th career win against St. Mary's, which moves his to second in all-time career wins at UCI

> Evan Leonard played in his first full game of the season against St. Mary's and finished with a UCI season-high 22 points

> Not a single Anteater is averaging double-digit points but five UCI players are averaging at least nine points per game

SALUTE TO HEROES
Saturday's Salute to Heroes game to pay tribute to Veterans, Military Service Members, and their families. Several Military Service Members and Veterans will be selected for a special pregame ceremony.

UC Irvine Athletics is asking the community to nominate local Veterans and Military Service Members that will be honored during the game. Fans can help send a local Veteran, Military Service Member, and their family to the game by sponsoring tickets. UC Irvine Athletics will match all tickets sponsored by fans. Tickets will be distributed to local Veteran and Military support organizations.

For more information on nominations and tickets click here.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the special pre-game ceremony will take place before the start of the game.

ABOUT THE LANCERS
> CBU has a 4-4 record in its first season as a DI team. The Lancers most recently defeated Mississippi Valley State, 107-71, and Big West Conference member UC Riverside, 80-70
> Before their two most recent wins, the Lancers suffered a four-game losing streak
> CBU is shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from three-point range. The Lancers are led by Milan Acquaah with 21.8 points per game and Jordan Heading (13.5 ppg)
> Rick Croy is in his sixth season as head coach of the Lancers and boasts a 132-29 overall record (DII)
> The only time CBU and UCI met was in the Anteaters inaugural season in 1965-66. UCI won, 109-75, at home on Feb. 5 1966. This will be the first time the 'Eaters play in Riverside

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES
> Montana is 4-2 on the season, suffering two-straight losses to Georgia Southern (77-80) and Creighton (72-98)
> The Grizzlies were an NCAA Tournament team last season after winning the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles. Montana returns four starters and six of its seven rotation players from last year's championship squad
> Montana will play the College of Idaho before making the trip to Irvine
> The Grizzlies are led by Jamar Akoh (22 ppg), Michael Oguine (16.5 ppg) and Ahmaad Rorie (15.7 ppg). MU is shooting 52.5 percent (169-322) from the field and averages 29.7 rebounds per game
> UCI assistant coach Blaine Taylor attended the university as a player and a coach. Taylor was a player from 1978-81 leading the team in assists in three years. As a coach, Taylor picked up a 141-66 record in seven years as the coach, taking the program to two NCAA tournaments (1992, 1997) and an NIT berth (1995)
> The two teams have met seven times with UCI holding a slight 4-3 lead in the all-time series. Last season, Montana defeated UCI 86-68 in Missoula where John Edgar Jr. led the 'Eaters with 13 points and Tommy Rutherford had six rebounds
> Before last season, the teams had not played each other since 1986 and have not played in Irvine since 1985 when UCI won an 85-72 decision on Dec. 12

With a win Wednesday … UCI would extend its road win streak to nine games, the third longest active road win streak in DI, only behind UVA and Gonzaga (10 wins) … Stay perfect against CBU with a 2-0 all-time record

SPLIT WEEK
> UCI split a pair of games last week after defeating Saint Mary's, 80-75, on the road before falling to Utah State, 89-65, at home

> Against St. Mary's Evan Leonard played his first full game of the season and finished with a UCI season-high 22 points, finishing 4-7 from three-point range
> Five Anteaters scored in double-figures including Leonard, Max Hazzard (14 points), Collin Welp (12), John Edgar Jr. (11) and Robert Cartwright (11)> With under five minutes to play, UCI went on an 8-2 run to ultimately seal the win
> The Anteaters only committed six turnovers and out-scored the Gaels 49-13 off the bench

> UCI trailed the entire 40 minutes against Utah State
>Utah State shot 54.2 percent from three-point distance, hitting 10-14 (71.4) in the second half
>In comparison, UCI shot 1-14 from beyond the arc for the game
>UCI was led by Eyassu Worku with 11 points, the lone Anteater in double figures
>The Anteaters were out-rebounded 41-27 on the glass

QUICK HITS
> UCI is 0-2 when it does not lead in rebounds
> The Anteaters have trailed or been tied at the half in seven of their nine games and have come back to win on six of those occasions
> In 5 of its 9 games, UCI's leading scorer has come off the bench
> Jonathan Galloway has lead the team in rebounding in 6-out-of-9 games
 
IN THE STATS
> Galloway leads UCI with 75 rebounds this season, which ranks 45th nationally. He leads UCI with 8.3 rpg, second in the Big West. His 3.33 offensive rebounds per game ranks 34^th nationally
> Elston Jones has a team-best 17 blocks this season which ranks 36th nationally and first in the BWC
> The Anteaters are ranked 11^th nationally in total rebounds (364), and 48^th in rebounding margin (+6.7)
> UCI ranks 22^nd in total blocks and first in the BWC with 41 on the season

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS
> Jonathan Galloway jumped to No. 7 in all-time rebounds with 751, 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.


HAZZARD'S HOT START
>Max Hazzard was named the Big West's first Player of the Week  for the season.
>Hazzard helped lead UCI to two opening season wins, averaging 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists as UCI earned victories over Idaho and Texas A&M.
> Against Idaho, Hazzard hit three 3-pointers, finishing with 11 points, three rebounds and five assists
> In UCI's 74-73 win over Texas A&M in College Station, Hazzard led the Anteaters with 19 points. He matched a career-high five three-pointers, three of those came in the second half as UCI overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to seal the win
> This marks the first weekly honor of Hazzard's career and the first for the Anteaters since the 2016-17 season.

NEWS AND NOTES
> 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
> 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
> 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


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 hosts Denver at the Bren Events Center Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.