FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (12-4) vs. UC Davis (4-10)
Thursday, Jan. 10 | 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Radio (KUCI & AM830) | Video  (ESPN3)

UC Irvine (12-4) at Cal State Fullerton (4-10)
Saturday, Jan. 12 | 6:00 p.m.
Titan Gym – Fullerton, Calif.
Live Stats | Radio (KUCI & AM830) | Video 

Game Notes

OPENING TIPS
> UCI has won 12 of its first 16 games, a .75 winning percentage. It is the 'Eaters best in 17 years, since the 2001-02 also started 12-4
> The Anteaters 12 non-conference wins ties for the most regular-season non-conference wins in program history. The 1981-82 team also had 12 non-conference wins
> Since 2012-13, UCI is 86-5 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less. The Anteaters are 7-0 in 2018-19 when doing so, and have won 18 straight dating back to last season when hitting that mark
> UCI is 5-1 at the Bren Events Center this season, most recently defeating UTRGV, 85-74. The Anteaters only home loss was against Utah State (65-89)
> Before falling to Butler (Dec. 21),  the Anteaters had a 10 game road-winning streak which ended as the second-longest active road-win streak in DI
> Head coach Russell Turner earned his 168^th career win against EMU, which moved him to ninth in the Big West's all-time career wins list
> The 18 three-pointers recorded by the 'Eaters against Denver set a school and Bren Events Center record, besting the previous mark of 16 recorded on Feb. 13, 1999 vs. Cal State Fullerton
> The Anteaters are No. 15 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, after spending two weeks at No. 13, their highest ranking of the season
> This marks the second-straight season UCI and UCD play each other to open Big West Conference play

With a win Thursday … UCI would snap its three-game losing streak against the Aggies … Open conference play with a win for the first time since 2017 … The Anteaters would win five-straight at the Bren Events Center

HISTORIC START
> UCI recorded its 10^th win on Dec. 15^th, the earliest date on the calendar in the history of the program. Only two Anteater teams have registered 10 wins by the end of December. They include the current 2018-19 team (12/15), the 2015-16 team (12/22)
> In the history of the program, the only UCI squad with more wins in its first 12 games was the 1981-82 team which began 12-1
> The Anteaters 12 non-conference wins ties for the most in program history

ABOUT THE AGGIES
> UC Davis is 4-10 on the season. The Aggies earned a 90-60 win over Holy Names to round out their non-conference schedule
> UCD finished last season as the Big West regular-season champions with a 12-4 record in conference play. The Aggies fell to Cal State Fullerton, 52-55, in the Big West semifinals but made an appearance in the NIT suffering a first round loss to Utah 59-69
> The Aggies defeated UCI on both occasions last year as the Anteaters lost in Davis, 53-64, before falling to UCD in their regular-season finale, 84-90 (2)T) in the Bren
> UCI has lost three-straight games to UCD but holds a 23-18 edge in the all-time series
> The Aggies are led on offense by T.J. Shorts and Siler Schneider who average 14.2 and 10.9 points per game, respectively
> Shorts also leads the team in rebounding (4.9 rpg), assists (53) and steals (21)
> As a team, UCD averages 62.9 points per game and 30.8 rebounds per game

ABOUT THE TITANS
> Cal State Fullerton enters conference play with a 4-10 non-conference record after recently falling to Washington, 76-84
> The Titans are coming off a 2017-18 season that saw them win the Big West Conference Tournament and make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament
> CSUF defeated UCI in last year's BWC Final, 55-71, to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Titans fell to Purdue, 48-74, in the NCAA Tournament first round
> UCI split a pair of regular-season games against the Titans. The Anteaters fell at home, 64-67, before defeating CSUF on the road, 63-68
> The 'Eaters trail the Titans 53-55 in the all-time series
> CSUF will play at Hawaii on Wednesday, Feb. 9 before taking on the Anteaters
> The Titans have three players averaging in double-figures including Kyle Allman Jr. (18.5 ppg), Khalil Ahmad (18.2 ppg) and Jackson Rowe (10.6 ppg). Rowe leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game
> CSUF averages 74 points per game and 37.6 rebounds per game. The Titans lead the Big West in defensive rebounds per game (28.36)
 
OFFENSE IGNITES IN WIN OVER UTRGV
> UCI earned its fifth win at home in a 85-74 victory over UTRGV last Saturday
> Four Anteaters scored in double figures including Max Hazzard (23 points), Evan Leonard (14), Elston Jones (11) and Robert Cartwright (11)
> Jones tallied his first career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) while Eyassu Worku tied a season-best seven assists
> UCI notched its best shooting of the season from both the three-point range, 57.9 percent (11-19) and from the field, 55.8 percent (29-52)
> Hazzard shot 85.7% (6-7) from behind the arc

HAZZARD'S HOT START
>Hazzard leads the team with 12.1 points per game and 42 three-pointers made
>He has notched back-to-back 20+ point performances scoring 28 against Pacific and 23 against UTRGV. Hazzard has led UCI in scoring in four out of the last five games
> He has hit five or more three-pointers in four games this season
>Hazzard's 10 three's against Denver was one shy of tying the single-game UCI and Big West records of 11 3-pointers. The UCI record was set by Chris Brown against New Mexico State on Mar. 13, 1994 while the BWC mark is held by Brown and CS Fullerton's Bobby Brown
>His 10 threes are tied for fourth most in the country this season
>Max Hazzard was named the Big West Player of the Week twice this season. He earned the first honor of the season (Nov. 12) and again on Dec. 17.

RECORD NIGHT 
> UCI defeated Denver at home by a score of 86-52. The 34-point victory was the most since the 'Eaters beat Life Pacific, 87-53, (Nov. 12)
> The Anteaters set a new school record in single-game 3-pointers with 18, breaking the previous record of 16 three's recorded on Feb. 13 1999 against Cal State Fullerton
> Max Hazzard set a new Bren Events Center record after hitting a career-best 10 three-pointers. He ended the night with a career-high 32 points on 10-17 shooting from long range
> UCI also held the Pioneers the 16 first half points, the lowest total by an opponent during a half this season

ROAD STREAK HALTED
> UCI's 10 game road winning streak was snapped after a 71-54 loss to Butler (Dec. 21)
> 10 games was the second-longest active road winning streak in the country this season
> UCI picked up notable road wins this season against Texas A&M, Saint Mary's and Eastern Michigan

QUICK HITS
> UCI is 11-0 when totaling more or the same rebounds and 1-4 when finishing with less
> The Anteaters are 11-0 when finishing with more assists and 0-4 when totaling less
> UCI is 7-0 when holding opponents to 60 points or less
> Jonathan Galloway has lead the team in rebounding in 10-out-of-16 games
> UCI Elston Jones has tallied at least one block in 14-out-of 16 games
> Max Hazzard has led UCI in scoring a team-best five times

IN THE STATS
> Galloway's 2.81 offensive rebounds per game ranks 72nd nationally. He leads UCI with 116 total rebounds and averages 7.3 rpg
> Elston Jones has a team-best 27 blocks this season which ranks 40th nationally and second in the BWC
> The Anteaters are ranked 19^th nationally in total rebounds (629), 12^th in field goal percentage defense (38.0) and 38^th in scoring defense (64.4)
> UCI ranks 19th in total blocks and first in the BWC with 72 on the season

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS
> Jonathan Galloway jumped to No. 4 in all-time rebounds with 792, surpassing Darren Fells (780). Galloway is 134 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 moved to second in UCI's all-time career when he earned his 164^thwin against St. Mary's (11/28)
> UCI has lost its last two overtime situations including a 75-85 defeat at Pacific (Dec. 29) and has not won in overtime since March 16, 2016 against North Dakota
> 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
>Earlier this season, Hazzard led UCI to a 74-73 road victory over Texas A&M, finishing the night with 19 points on five three-pointers made
> 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 
> 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
> 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

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 welcomes Long Beach State for the Black & Blue rivalry Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.