The UC Irvine men's basketball team wrapped up another successful season. Here are some of the highlights of 2017-18.
 
6th - The Anteaters finished with a winning record for the 6th straight season, its 30th in 53 seasons as a program, and it raised the program's overall record to an even .500 at 772-772

35 - The Anteaters played 35 games through the regular season and conference tournament, 1 of 5 schools to play that many and 1 of 3 to register a winning record along with Michigan and North Carolina

5 - The starting 5 of Jonathan Galloway, Evan Leonard, Eyassu Worku, John Edgar Jr., and Tommy Rutherford started 23 of the final 24 games together and all return for the 2018-19 season

2nd - The 'Eaters finish their season 2nd in the NCAA in rebounds with 1,443. UCI also ranks 3rd in defensive rebounds per game (29.2), 6th in rebounds per game (41.2), 10th in rebounding margin (+7.5), and 48th in offensive rebounds per game (12.0).

38.9 - The Anteaters are 4th in the nation (behind Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Virginia) allowing opponents to shoot 38.9% from the field. UC Irvine is 1 of 10 schools to keep opponents under 40%, and 1 of 4 to keep them under 39%
 
UC Irvine finishes the 2017-18 season with an 18-17 record its sixth straight season with a winning record. The 'Eaters also finished with a winning record in conference play marking the fifth straight season it has finish in the conference's top two and won a minimum of 11 conference games.

Head Coach Russell Turner upped his career win total to 157 becoming the third coach in UC Irvine 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 two Anteater coaching greats Bill Mulligan (163 career wins) and Pat Douglass (197 career wins)  who each reached the 150-win plateau in their 10th seasons.

Jonathan Galloway was named the Big West's Best Defensive Player for the second year in a row, only the second instance of that in the conference (Joe Ford, Pacific - 2009 & 2010). Three of his teammates were named All-Big West, a first for each, headed by sophomore Tommy Rutherford on the First Team, sophomore Evan Leonard Second Team, and sophomore Eyassu Worku Honorable Mention.

UC Irvine's Big West Tournament run reached the final for the second straight season, fourth time in the last six years, fifth time under coach Turner, and seventh time in the program's history.

ANT-ALYTICS
UC Irvine's non-conference schedule ranked as the sixth-toughest in the NCAA equipped with 12 games away from home, covering 11,715 miles with the Anteaters playing games in 10 different states. Seven teams from the 'Eaters' schedule earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament (UCLA, Arizona State, South Dakota State, Montana, New Mexico State, Nevada, Kansas State) and two others (Saint Mary's, Rider) landed in the NIT.

CoachStats.net ranked the top 25 coaches behind today's best defenses from all three NCAA Divisions, and Russell Turner is ranked No. 1. The list names coaches whose careers go from defensive stops taking into consideration defensive rebounds, fewest fouls, FG% defense, forced turnovers, scoring defense, total blocks and steals, and 3pt FG defense.

UC Irvine allowed its opponents to shoot just 38.9% on the season, fourth-lowest in the nation trailing top seeds in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Virginia, the only four schools to keep its opponents under 39% shooting. UCI is 1 of 10 programs holding its opponents under 40% shooting. The Anteaters even fared well against the 3-ball allowing opponents to shoot 32.8%, 54th-lowest in the nation.

The 'Eaters finished with the stingiest scoring defense in the conference allowing 67.1 points per game. It's the fourth time the program his topped the Big West and third straight season. UCI also led the conference in rebounding for the fifth time all-time and fourth in the last five years.

PLAYER PROFILES
Jonathan Galloway became the 14th Anteater to reach 600 career rebounds. He's currently at 676 career rebounds, now ninth in the program's all-time records surpassing Anteater great Ben McDonald during the Big West Tournament and within reach of another great, Kevin Magee, in eighth at 690. Through three seasons, 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.

Galloway led the team in rebounds 16 times on the season, and scored double-figures twice which led to his two double-doubles. He also led the squad in blocks with 47 leading the squad to four blocks per game as a team, 79th-best in the NCAA. Amongst the Big West, he finishes third rebounding (7.5 RPG) and blocks (1.3 BPG) in addition to third in offensive rebounding (2.2 ORPG) and fourth in defensive rebounding (5.3 DRPG) while finished third on the team in minutes and steals as the only Anteater to start in all 35 contests.

Evan Leonard was the team's leading scorer at 13.6 PPG topping the team in scoring in 15 games with 27 double-digit scoring games and nine times scoring 20 or more with a single-game high of 30 in a win at Long Beach State. His 44.7% FG percentage led all guards, and he also topped the team in three-pointers made at 67 and free-throw percentage with a 79.3% mark while also finishing as the team's steals leader at 48. Leonard finished among the conference's leaders in scoring, 10th at 13.6 PPG, as well as ninth in FT percentage, eighth in 3-point percentage, fourth in threes made, and third in overall steals which included a career high in steals with five at UC Riverside. The guard was named College Sports Madness' Big West Player of the Week on February 26 following wins against UC Santa Barbara at home and Hawai'i on the road.

Eyassu Worku finished as the team's minutes leader with 999 including 42 minutes of work in the double overtime loss to UC Davis, the most minutes played in a game by an Anteater since 2012, also on March 3, when Derick Flowers played 44 minutes in a single overtime road loss at UC Riverside, 72-69. The guard ranked 24th nationally at 28.5 minutes per game. Worku finished as the second-leading scorer on the squad at 11.3 per game and assisted on a team-high 130 makes which continues the trend of an Anteater reached 100 assists in a season for the eighth straight season and includes a career high of eight assists he reached in the win at Cal Poly.Eyassu Worku,
 
Tommy Rutherford cleaned up down low for the Anteaters finishing with 10.1 points per game, third on the club, along with 199 rebounds and 82 free throws made, both second-most. He averaged 21.3 minutes per game while leading the team with a 58.3 FG% and even went 6-of-14 from three. He scored a career high 20 points against Cal Poly as part of his 15 games finishing in double figures. He had at least 10 rebounds four times accounting for his two double-doubles on the season. His team-high shooting percentage landed him second in the conference, and he also finished 11th in the conference in rebounding and ninth in offensive rebounding.

John Edgar Jr. cracked the starting lineup 26 times after coming from the bench exclusively as a freshman. He averaged 8.4 points per game in 24.3 minutes per game hauling in 4.1 rebounds per game and dishing out 34 assists, all fourth-best on the squad. He set career highs versus LBSU with 15 points and 10 boards for his first career double-double. He later dropped 21 points in a win at Cal Poly and registered a career high 37 minutes in the double-overtime performance.

Elston Jones set a team-high this season with six blocks against CSUN swatting 30 on the season, sixth-most in the conference. He began the season with a 14-rebound performance, matching the team's high with Galloway, as his 5.6 rebounds per game were third-best on the squad and 12th in the Big West. He was especially good on the offensive end where he had 74, fourth-best. He put in a career-high 23 minutes in the double overtime loss to Davis finishing with 10 points for the first time in his career. He later topped that in the Big West semifinal win over UC Santa Barbara with 11 to go with a 56.5 FG%, second on the club.

Max Hazzard tore it up from long-range making 52 three-pointers, second on the team and eighth-most in the Big West. He led the squad with 18 points in Pauley Pavilion against the No. 23 Bruins and finished with 8.4 points per game on the season. He averaged 22.7 minutes a game despite coming off the bench on 24 occasions. He was third in assists with 64.

Brad Greene was impactful in his 12.1 minutes per game, averaging 4.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and nearly a block per game down low. Greene's touch also allowed him to make 75% of his free throws and 47.7% of his shots. He had a monster game against Chapman with a career-high 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in 23 minutes.

Darrian Traylor was instrumental in his 28 games. He put up 11 points and six boards against Chapman, and had his best games against UC Davis with double-digit minutes in each including a season-high six points and 17 minutes at Davis to go with 13 three-pointers on the season and 36 rebounds.

First-year players Justin Wertner and Riley Welch grew in their roles, each playing in 20 games. Wertner missed the middle portion of the season with an injury, but before that earning a start and posting double-digit efforts against Whittier and Denver. Welch picked up key minutes at the point playing just over five minutes a game and assisting on 15 buckets, and in the five games he scored over the course of the season, the team won all five.

The squad's only senior, Teo Davidian, sparked the club following his promotion from team manager prior to the season. Davidian appeared in 11 games, dishing three assists on the season, but stepped up with 11 points on the year, all in the Bren, with four against Chapman and seven in three minutes in the team's 112-point effort against Whittier.


SEASON AT A GLANCE
Head Coach: Russell Turner
8th Season (157-122)

2017-18 Season
Record: 18-17
Home: 7-5
Away: 7-10
Neutral: 4-2
Non-Conference: 5-11
Big West Record: 11-5
Standings: Tied for 2nd
Tournament: L in Final
All-Tournament Team: Eyassu Worku, Evan Leonard
 
Team Stats - Big West rank
69.7 PPG - 4th
67.1 PPG allowed - 1st
41.2 Rebounds per game - 1st
12.3 Assists per game - 6th
4.0 Blocks per game - 4.0
5.1 Steals per game - 6th
43.7% FG percentage - 6th
38.9% FG% allowed - 1st
33.5% 3pt percentage - 7th
32.8% 3pt% allowed - 2nd
70.8% FT percentage - 5th
+0.8 Assist-to-Turnover ratio- 8th

Team Leaders
Minutes: Worku - 28.5
Minutes High: Worku - 42
Scoring: Leonard - 13.6
Points High: Leonard - 30
Rebounding: Galloway - 7.5
Rebound High: Galloway/Jones - 14
Assists: Worku - 3.7
Blocks: Galloway - 1.3
Steals: Leonard - 1.3
FG%: Rutherford - 58.3%
3-pointers: Leonard - 67
FT%: Leonard - 79.3%