Friday, March 15
Anaheim, Calif. / Honda Center
6:30 PM PT
UC Irvine
vs
No. 5 Long Beach State
UC Irvine and Long Beach State Set to Meet in Big West Semifinal
March 15, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Top-seeded UC Irvine will meet fifth-seed Long Beach State in a Big West Tournament semifinal at 6:30 p.m. at the Honda Center. The game will be televised by ESPNU and can be heard on KUCI 88.9 FM with Trent Rush calling the action.
ANTEATER NEWS AND NOTES
> It is the eighth straight year UC Irvine has advanced to the Big West Tournament semifinals
> UCI and LBSU have met 12 times in the Big West Tournament, with the series record tied, 6-6. The teams last tangled in 2017 as No. 1 seeded UCI defeated No. 4 seed LBSU, 62-57, in the semifinals
> The Anteaters and 49ers split a pair of games this season. LBSU handed UCI its only conference loss, winning at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 16, 80-70. The 'Eaters turned around and beat the Beach on their home court, 82-80, on Feb. 2.
> In the first meeting (Jan. 16), UCI held a 32-30 lead at the half but LBSU used a nine-point scoring run to break open the lead with five minutes to play and went on to earn the 10-point victory. Evan Leonard led UCI with 16 points, hitting 4-9 from distance while Jonathan Galloway tied a career-high 14 rebounds. It was UCI's only loss when winning the battle of the boards
> Rutherford hit the game-winning shot to lift UCI over LBSU, 82-80, at Walter Pyramid Feb. 2. Evan Leonard finished with a game-high 18 points while Eyassu Worku and Rutherford had 15 and 13 points, respectively
> UCI and LBSU are the only two teams in the current league alignment to tally at least 30 Tournament wins. The 49ers have the most tournament wins with 38 while the Anteaters are close behind with 33. LBSU has the most tournament titles (5) of any current Big West team
> LBSU leads the all-time series 59-45
> The Anteaters used a strong defensive effort to defeat UC Riverside, 63-44, in the quarterfinals last night. UCI only allowed UCR to score 44 points, the fewest points an Anteater team has ever allowed an opponent to score in the Big West Tournament and the fewest points scored by an opponent this season
> Collin Welp came off the bench to lead UCI with 15 points while Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard had 13 points each
> With the win over UCR, the Anteaters tied the school record for the most wins in a season with 28. The 2015-16 team also had 28 wins. They also extended their winning streak to 14 games, which marks the longest in school history
> Leonard went 4-4 at the line extending his free throws made streak to 30. He needs five more to break the UCI school record (34) set by Johnny Rogers (1984-85)
> Head coach Russell Turner was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award. An award presented to the nation's top mid-major coach
> Max Hazzard, a Big West All-Conference Second Team selection, leads UCI in scoring with 12.2 points per game while Evan Leonard, an Honorable Mention honoree, is averaging 11.0 ppg
> UCI became the first team to go undefeated on the road in conference play since Pacific (2004-05), finishing 8-0
> UCI is 3-1 in televised games this season
> Since 2012-13, UCI is 93-5 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less. The Anteaters are 14-0 in 2018-19 when doing so, and have won 25 straight dating back to last season when hitting that mark
> Nationally, the Anteaters have logged the third best improvement in wins over the previous year with nine. Only Omaha and Stony Brook have more wins from the previous season each with 11
> UCI's only Big West Tournament win came in 2015 with a 67-58 win over Hawaii, advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history
> The Anteaters have reached the Big West Tournament Final seven times, including four of the last six seasons
> UCI is receiving votes in the National Coaches Poll for the first time this season
> UCI is 26-1 when totaling the more or same rebounds as an opponent
> Elston Jones has tallied at least one block in all but four games while Jonathan Galloway has led the team in rebounding 19 times
> Over the past two seasons, UCI is 7-2 when playing games at a hockey arena
ANTEATER NEWS AND NOTES
> It is the eighth straight year UC Irvine has advanced to the Big West Tournament semifinals
> UCI and LBSU have met 12 times in the Big West Tournament, with the series record tied, 6-6. The teams last tangled in 2017 as No. 1 seeded UCI defeated No. 4 seed LBSU, 62-57, in the semifinals
> The Anteaters and 49ers split a pair of games this season. LBSU handed UCI its only conference loss, winning at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 16, 80-70. The 'Eaters turned around and beat the Beach on their home court, 82-80, on Feb. 2.
> In the first meeting (Jan. 16), UCI held a 32-30 lead at the half but LBSU used a nine-point scoring run to break open the lead with five minutes to play and went on to earn the 10-point victory. Evan Leonard led UCI with 16 points, hitting 4-9 from distance while Jonathan Galloway tied a career-high 14 rebounds. It was UCI's only loss when winning the battle of the boards
> Rutherford hit the game-winning shot to lift UCI over LBSU, 82-80, at Walter Pyramid Feb. 2. Evan Leonard finished with a game-high 18 points while Eyassu Worku and Rutherford had 15 and 13 points, respectively
> UCI and LBSU are the only two teams in the current league alignment to tally at least 30 Tournament wins. The 49ers have the most tournament wins with 38 while the Anteaters are close behind with 33. LBSU has the most tournament titles (5) of any current Big West team
> LBSU leads the all-time series 59-45
> The Anteaters used a strong defensive effort to defeat UC Riverside, 63-44, in the quarterfinals last night. UCI only allowed UCR to score 44 points, the fewest points an Anteater team has ever allowed an opponent to score in the Big West Tournament and the fewest points scored by an opponent this season
> Collin Welp came off the bench to lead UCI with 15 points while Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard had 13 points each
> With the win over UCR, the Anteaters tied the school record for the most wins in a season with 28. The 2015-16 team also had 28 wins. They also extended their winning streak to 14 games, which marks the longest in school history
> Leonard went 4-4 at the line extending his free throws made streak to 30. He needs five more to break the UCI school record (34) set by Johnny Rogers (1984-85)
> Head coach Russell Turner was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award. An award presented to the nation's top mid-major coach
> Max Hazzard, a Big West All-Conference Second Team selection, leads UCI in scoring with 12.2 points per game while Evan Leonard, an Honorable Mention honoree, is averaging 11.0 ppg
> UCI became the first team to go undefeated on the road in conference play since Pacific (2004-05), finishing 8-0
> UCI is 3-1 in televised games this season
> Since 2012-13, UCI is 93-5 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less. The Anteaters are 14-0 in 2018-19 when doing so, and have won 25 straight dating back to last season when hitting that mark
> Nationally, the Anteaters have logged the third best improvement in wins over the previous year with nine. Only Omaha and Stony Brook have more wins from the previous season each with 11
> UCI's only Big West Tournament win came in 2015 with a 67-58 win over Hawaii, advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history
> The Anteaters have reached the Big West Tournament Final seven times, including four of the last six seasons
> UCI is receiving votes in the National Coaches Poll for the first time this season
> UCI is 26-1 when totaling the more or same rebounds as an opponent
> Elston Jones has tallied at least one block in all but four games while Jonathan Galloway has led the team in rebounding 19 times
> Over the past two seasons, UCI is 7-2 when playing games at a hockey arena
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballCan you answer them all??
Friday, March 27
TISHAN for THREEEE 👌
Thursday, March 26
UCI Men's Basketball | Head Coach Russell Turner | CBS Segment
Monday, March 23
UCI Men's Basketball vs. Cal Poly | 3.5.2026 | Postgame Interview
Friday, March 06
