Radio: Live broadcasts will be available on KUCI 88.9 FM and ucirvinesports.com
with play-by-play from Trent Rush. Both broadcasts this week will also be heard on KLAA AM 830

TV: Links to broadcasts for each game can be found on via ucirvinesports.com
Wednesday's broadcast on ESPN3 with commentated by Rahshaun Haylock and Richie Schueler
 
150 - Head Coach Russell Turner registered his 150th career win Saturday. He's the third UCI coach to reach the mark joining Bill Mulligan (1980-91) at 163 wins and Pat Douglass (1997-2010) with the all-time mark at 197 wins

40 - The last time UCI and UC Riverside met up on Jan. 24, UCI won 79-40, marking the lowest points total allowed by UCI since Feb. 15, 2006 when UCI beat UCR, 63-37. The 19 and 21 points allowed in each half were also season lows allowed by UCI

14th - Jonathan Galloway reached 600 career rebounds in his 99th career game with nine in the win at Cal State Fullerton becoming the program's 14th player with 600 rebounds passing assistant coach Michael Wilder's total of 596 on the way

6-3 - UC Irvine is 6-3 and a game behind Big West leaders UC Davis and UCSB, a familiar spot to the 2016-17 campaign when UCI was also 6-3 through nine games and finished winning 6 of 7 to win the Big West with a 12-4 record

UC Irvine will be on ESPN3 once this week with Wednesday's home tilt with CSUN being shown a week after a pair of televised wins over LBSU (Prime Ticket) and Cal State Fullerton (ESPNU). UC Irvine has made six television appearances on the season going 2-4 overall. In addition, each game will be broadcasted on the radio via KLAA AM 830.

The Anteaters picked up a 71-54 win at CSUN in the teams' first meeting. The win built UCI's current win streak against the Matadors to seven in a row. As CSUN visits the Bren Events Center, they will be looking for their first win in the building since 2011 as UCI has won each of the last six home meetings.

Since the meeting, CSUN has picked things up winning two of its five games on the season. CSUN defeated UC Riverside on the road and Cal Poly at home by a combined 27 points to build a two-game win streak following the loss to UCI, and has yet to win since that streak, but has put up quality results losing by single digits twice to UC Davis and once to Long Beach State.

Tavrion Dawson and Micheal Warren each scored 14 points in the last meeting. Dawson has continued to shine averaging 16.1 points on the season and putting up double-digits in 11 straight games highlighted by 29 against Long Beach State. The 'Eaters outrebounded CSUN  by 17, the worst margin in a game for the Matadors for the season, and they also shot just 34.0%, their fourth-lowest total, but were a spotless 15-of-15 from the free throw line.

The Matadors rank last in the conference in scoring at 64.5 points per game which drops to 59.7 PPG in conference play. The defense has stepped up second only to UCI (63.0 PPGA) in defense allowing 66.4 points per game in Big West matchups. CSUN has excelled in making their free throws (2nd - 77.3%) and defending the three (1st - 27.6% allowed), but they continue to struggle near the bottom of the conference in rebounding and blocks.

The Anteaters blitzed UC Riverside last time out, 79-40, with no players in double figures, Chance Murray shut down shooting 1-for-12, and being outrebounded 55-30. UCI is now 41-24 all-time and 14-5 under coach Turner. UCI has seven straight wins over the Highlanders including the last two in Riverside. UCR is still searching for its first Big West win sitting at 0-8 and will return from a trip to Hawai'i on Wednesday.

The Jan. 24 matchup also was where UCR lost senior big-man Alex Larsson to an injury just before the half, and he still led UCR with eight points. He still hasn't returned in the two games since for a team already reeling from the loss of its head coach prior to Big West play and without leading scorer sophomore guard Dikymbe Martin for its last five games. The Highlanders do boast a very deep squad with 12 players averaging at least 10 minutes a game, by far the best mark in the Big West with UC Irvine along with UC Davis and Long Beach State next with 10 players averaging 10 minutes

The Highlanders sit near the bottom of almost every category during Big West play including dead last in field goal percentage (37.2%), rebounds allowed per game (39.9), and steals (3.5 per game). The few bright spots come in the form of a +1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio and FG% defense that still ranks second among Big West schools inside and outside the arc.

ANT-ALYTICS
UC Irvine'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.
Anteater rebounding averages 41.4 per game, seventh in the nation, and has grabbed 1,035 total rebounds, third-most in the NCAA, just six behind NCAA leaders North Carolina (1,041). UCI's 29.1 defensive rebounds per game is 13th-best in the nation, offensive rebounds stand at 12.3 per game, 47th-best, and eighth-best rebound margin at +7.6.

Jonathan Galloway reached 100 career blocks in the last game at CSUN. His team reached 100 on the season at LBSU, and stand 48th nationally with 106 total blocks.

Galloway also joined the Anteater 600-rebound club, the 14th all-time in program history. He's currently at 602 career rebounds, surpassing Michael Wilder last game to jump to 14th all-time in program history. Next on the list is Ricky Butler at 611 trailing closely behind Adam Folker, Jerry Maras, and Jeff Von Lutzow all within three rebounds of each other.

UC Irvine slid its field goal percentage defense down to 39.7% this season entering Wednesday's game which is 15th-best in the nation. UCI is 1 of 19 programs holding its opponents under 40% shooting, 10 of which are mid-major programs. UCI ranked sixth in the nation in that stat in 2016-17.

Through nine conference games, the 'Eaters lead the Big West rebounds per game (41.1), defensive rebounds per game (30.0), rebound margin (+9.9), scoring defense (63.0), and FG% defense (39.3%). They're among the top three in 3pt defense (2nd - 28.9%), scoring margin (2nd - +6.9), and offensive rebounds per game (2nd - 11.1).

Anteater leaders through nine conference games include:

Evan Leonard now 11th with 15.0 points per game after his 30-point outburst at LBSU. He's also top 10 assist-to-turnover ratio (8th - +1.6), steals (4th - 1.7 SPG), FT% (10th - 78.8%), 3pt % (9th - 43.6%) and 3pt makes (8th - 1.9 3PG)

Eyassu Worku is not too far behind in scoring (14th - 13.7 PPG) and also shows up in assists per game (7th - 3.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (10th - +1.4), and also is the only 'Eater averaging 30 minutes a game in conference play, at 30.4 MPG, ranking 19th
Jonathan Galloway ranks top 100 nationally in blocks (68th - 41), blocks per game (87th - 1.64), and rebounds (95th - 190). In conference play, he's top 10 in rebounding (T3rd - 8.0-1 RPG), offensive rebounds per game (3rd - 2.8), defensive rebounds per game (5th - 5.3), and blocks (T6th - 1.0 BPG).

Tommy Rutherford's conference play has earned him a top 10 spot in rebounding (10th - 6.4 RPG), FG% (6th - 55.1%), and blocks (T10th - 0.8 BPG)

Max Hazzard continues to shine with 2.0 3PM per game (T3rd) and a 42.1 3pt % (10th).

Elston Jones leapt into the rankings as well after his stellar performance at LBSU now among the leaders in rebounding (14th - 5.6 RPG) and especially offensive rebounding (8th - 1.7 ORPG).

RECENT GAME RUNDOWN
Tommy Rutherford has led the team in scoring in four of the last five games and the 'Eaters are 4-1 in those games and 3-1 when he's the leading scorer

UC Irvine foul shooters have now made 33 of their last 39 shots from the line. The 'Eaters made 85% of their FTs at LBSU and 84.2% of them at CSF, their highest and second-highest season totals

UCI's win over Cal State Fullerton was only the second game this season where UCI has never trailed (Nov. 14 vs. Chapman). It also had its lowest bench production in a game this season with just 10 bench points, and the five-point margin of victory was its smallest of the season

UCI allowed CSF to shoot 32.8%, third-lowest percentage given up to a Division I opponent (24.6% to UC Riverside, 29.8% to South Dakota State). The percentage was also CSF's second-lowest in a game and fourth time held under 40% shooting from the field

Saturday's win at Fullerton was the second time this season UC Irvine never trailed at any point, the other was the home win against Chapman

Wednesday's win at the Pyramid gave UC Irvine an 11-7 advantage in the Black and Blue Rivalry Series, after nine meetings between the schools over six different sports. Women's basketball posted its first 100-point game since 1979 in a win over LBSU Saturday to boost UCI's lead in the series to 14-7

Evan Leonard posted 30 points in the win at LBSU, the first 30-point scorer for UC Irvine since Jaron Martin notched 33 points in an overtime loss at New Mexico State on Dec. 19, 2016

Elston Jones snatched double-digit rebounds for the fourth time this season at LBSU, he now has at least five rebounds in 10 of his last 12 contests

This was the third time under head coach Russell Turner that UC Irvine has swept LBSU in the regular season (2013-14 & 2015-16)

The 47 second half points for UCI at LBSU were the second-most in the second half against a Division I opponent this season (48 at Denver)

UCI went 2-of-9 from three-point range vs. LBSU, both season lows - previous lows were 4 threes made (set 4 times) and 13 attempts (at UTRGV) - in the first meeting between UCI and LBSU, it set its season high in threes made (14) and attempted (25)

The win at LBSU was the second this season in which the 'Eaters had trailed at the half, the other came in Las Vegas when UCI erased a six-point halftime lead against Northern Arizona to win by six. UCI has led at the half in 7 of 9 conference games going 5-2 in them with losses vs. CSF and at UCSB
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UCI allowed 40 points to the Highlanders, the fewest allowed to a Division I opponent since Feb. 15, 2006 vs. UC Riverside (W, 63-37)

The 39-point victory over UC Riverside is the largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since Nov. 11, 2005 vs. Mississippi Valley State (54 points - 94-40)

The 'Eaters allowed 19 first half points and 21 second half points to the Highlanders, the lowest total for each half all season. This coming on the heels of a 24-point first half at UCSB which stood as the low vs. a Division I opponent until the UC Riverside game
Galloway and Rutherford each recorded a double-double, and it was the second of the season and third of the career for each

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 enters 2017-18 winners of 37 of its last 44 games (.841) in the Bren Events Center.
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.