FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (19-5, 7-1) vs. Cal State Fullerton (9-12, 5-2)
Wednesday, Feb. 6 | 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Radio (KUCI & Am830) | Video (ESPN3)

HOMECOMING
UC Irvine (19-5, 7-1) vs. Hawai'i  (13-8, 4-3)
Saturday, Feb. 9 | 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Radio (KUCI & AM830) | Video (ESPN3)

Game Notes
 
OPENING TIPS
> UCI has won 19 of its first 24 games, a .792 winning percentage. It is the 'Eaters best start in the Russell Turner era and the best since the 2000-01 team started 21-3. The 2000-01 went on to finish 25-5 on the season
> UCI is 8-0 in games that have been decided by five or fewer points this season. Three out of the Anteaters' last four games have been decided by four points or less
> The Anteaters are No. 10 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. UCI was ranked as high as No. 7 on the year
> After defeating UCSB 66-62 in overtime last Thursday, UCI is 3-1 in OT this season and 3-0 in Big West overtime situations
> UCI has been in four OT games this season, the most since the 2002-03 team also went into overtime on four occasions. That team also went 3-1 in those situations
> The Anteaters have gone over a year without losing a Big West game on the road (10-straight games). UCI's last conference road loss was against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 20, 2018)
> UCI's 10 road wins ties for the most in the nation with Stony Brook. The 'Eaters are 10-2 on the road
> UCI erased an 18-point deficit to defeat CSUN on the road, 74-68. 18 points is the largest deficit overcome in a win for the 'Eaters this season
> Since 2012-13, UCI is 87-5 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less. The Anteaters are 8-0 in 2018-19 when doing so, and have won 19 straight dating back to last season when hitting that mark
> 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
> UCI is 1-1 in televised games this season
> The Anteaters have amassed a 71-19 record at home over the last six years
> UCI has won five-straight road games and also finished the month of January with a 7-1 record

With a win Wednesday … UCI would reach the 20-win mark at the earliest date on the calendar in program-history … UCI would sweep the home and away series with the Titans… Win five-straight at home … Win six-straight Big West games ... Even the all-time series with CSUF at 55-55 (.500)
 
ABOUT THE TITANS
> CSUF is 9-12 on the season and 5-2 in the Big West. After UCI beat the Titans, 63-46, on Jan. 12^th, CSUF has won five-straight games and sits in a tie for second in the conference standings
> Kyle Allman Jr. tops the team and is third in the BWC in points per game (18.5). Khalil Ahmad is second on the team in ppg (18.2) while Jackson Rowe leads the Titans in rebounds per game (7.4)
> UCI held the Titans to just 46 points in their first meeting of the year, including 12 in the first half. 46 points is the fewest allowed by an opponent this season
> Collin Welp led UCI with 12 points while Jonathan Galloway grabbed 11 rebounds in the win
> The Anteaters are 2-3 in their last five meetings with the Titans
 
ABOUT THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
> Hawaii is 13-8 on the season and 4-3 in the conference. The Rainbow Warriors are 2-1 since their last meeting with the Anteaters. UH suffered their worst home loss in conference history after falling to UCSB 75-54 last Saturday
> Three players average double-digits in scoring for UH including Eddie Stansberry (12.4), Zigmars Raimo (11.5) and Jack Purchase (11.4). Raimo leads the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg)
> UCI won the meeting with the 'Bows in Honolulu in overtime. Max Hazzard hit the game-winning jumper with 9.2 seconds left in OT to give UCI the 75-74 win
> The Anteaters erased a 14-point deficit in the second half while Evan Leonard finished with a team-best 17 points
> UCI has won three-straight against UH and four out of the last five games
 
RUTHERFORD HITS GAME-WINNER OVER LBSU
> Tommy Rutherford made a game-winning layup with 2.4 seconds left to lift UCI over LBSU, 82-80
> Rutherford finished with 13 points and two blocks while Evan Leonard had 18 points and four assists
> UCI shot 524% overall and 53.3% from long range. The Anteaters out-scored the 49ers 46-20 in the paint
> UCI and LBSU split the Black & Blue Rivalry series, 1-1
 
'EATERS UPEND UCSB IN OVERTIME, 66-62
> Max Hazzard scored 8 points in overtime to help lift UCI over UCSB. He finished with a game-high 15 points
> With the win, UCI solidified first place in the conference standings
> Jonathan Galloway had 8 rebounds, six offensive and tied a season-high three blocks
> It was UCI's third overtime outing in conference play as the 'Eaters have won on all three occasions
 
APPROACHING THE TOP
> Galloway is 62 rebounds away from becoming UCI's career rebounds all-time leader. Dave Baker currently holds the top spot with 926 career rebounds
> Jonathan Galloway is No. 2 in all-time rebounds with 865, recently surpassing Will Davis II (852)
> His 134 career games played are just 5 away from UCI's all-time games played record (139) which is currently held by video coordinator and 2015 graduate Alex Young
 
UCI IN THE STATS
> Galloway's 189 total rebounds ranks 59th nationally. He leads UCI with 7.9 rebounds per game, which is second-best in the conference
> Elston Jones has a team-best 40 blocks this season which ranks 54th nationally and second in the BWC
> The Anteaters are ranked 2nd nationally in total rebounds (961), 9th in field goal percentage defense (38.7) and 37th in scoring defense (65.6)
> UCI ranks 18th in total blocks and first in the BWC with 110 on the seaso
> UCI is first in the conference and 20th nationally in rebounds per game, 40.04
 
HISTORIC START
> UCI recorded its 10th win on Dec. 15th, 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 regular season non-conference wins ties for the most in program history, The 1981-82 team also had 12 regular season non-conference wins
> 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
 
HAZZARD'S HOT START
>Hazzard leads the team with 11.8 points per game and 59 three-pointers made
>He notched back-to-back 20+ point performances scoring 28 against Pacific and 23 against UTRGV
> 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
>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
 
MORE ON MAX
> Hazzard ranks 89^th in three-pointers made with 59
> Max has made at least one three in 17-straight games
 
RECORD NIGHT
> UCI's 34-point, 86-52, defeat of Denver at home 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
 
QUICK HITS
> UCI is 16-1 when totaling more or the same rebounds and 2-4 when finishing with less
> UCI is 8-0 when holding opponents to 60 points or less and 15-1 when keeping opponents under 70 points
> Jonathan Galloway has lead the team in rebounding in 10 games
> UCI Elston Jones has tallied at least one block in 20-out-of 24 games
> Max Hazzard has led UCI in scoring a team-best six times
 
NEWS AND NOTES
> Head coach Russell Turner moved to second in UCI's all-time career when he earned his 164thwin against St. Mary's (11/28). His 168th career win against EMU moved him to ninth in the Big West's all-time career wins list
> The last time the Anteaters opened the Big West season with an overtime game was in 2012-13 where they defeated UC Davis 69-58
> 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 great and Pat Douglass (197 career wins) who reached the 150-win plateau in his 10th season
> 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 10th 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 14th 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 at2.14 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 rebounds. Young was also a part of UCI's 2015 NCAA Tournament Team
 
UP NEXT
> UCI continues its home stretch when it welcome UC Santa Barbara Saturday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. The game will be featured on ESPN2.