Top seed UC Irvine will battle third-seeded Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Championship at the Honda Center Saturday at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN2

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
>UC Irvine reaches the Big West Tournament final for the eighth time in program history, third year in a row and fifth time in the last seven seasons.
 
>This is the third all-Orange County final in tournament history and second-straight. The Titans won on both occasions including a 71-55 victory over the Anteaters last season. CS Fullerton also won by a score of 81-66 for the title in 2008. The Titans have three Big West Championship titles under their belt
 
> The Anteaters are 1-6 overall in Big West Tournament Championship games, beating Hawaii, 67-58 in 2015 and falling in 1988, 1994, 2008, 2013, 2017, 2018

>Cal State Fullerton holds a 7-2 advantage over UCI in tournament games. UCI last won against the Titans, 65-59, in a quarterfinal contest on March 8, 2012. Seven wins is the most any current Big West team has against UCI in the Big West Tournament
 
>UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton will meet for the 111th time, the most matchups with any opponent for the 'Eaters in program history. The all-time series record is gridlocked at 55-55

>UCI swept the home and away series with CS Fullerton this season. The teams first met in Fullerton Jan. 12 as UCI earned a 63-46 victory. The Anteaters held the Titans to just 12 points in the first half. Collin Welp came off the bench to lead UCI with 12 points while Tommy Rutherford had 10. Jonathan Galloway grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds

>Jonathan Galloway posted a double-double in UCI's 63-50 victory over CSF at home. He had a career-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Max Hazzard finished with 19 points, including 14 points in the second half

>On both occasions, UCI held CSF to 60 points or less

> UCI has the 10th best winning percentage in the country (.853). It is one of eight teams with 29 or more wins

>Nationally, UCI is ranked 2^nd in total rebounds with 1,381 only behind North Carolina (1,437). The Anteaters are 4^th in field-goal percentage defense (37.9) and 9^th in rebound margin (7.4)

>Behind UCI with 34 wins and LBSU with 38 wins, CS Fullerton has the third most BWT wins among current conference members with 28

>The Anteaters are the first Big West team, current or former, to win 29 games in a season since national runner-up UNLV went 34-1 in 1990-91.

>UCI set a new school record 29 wins improving its season record to 29-5. The Anteaters are also riding a program-record 15 game winning streak. It is the most by a Big West team since Pacific strung 22 together in 2004-05

> The Anteaters scored 50 of their 75 points in the paint in a 75-67 win over Long Beach State in the semifinals. Robert Cartwright had 16 of his career-tying 17 points in the second half, shooting 7-13 from the floor

> A total of five Anteaters scored in double-figures, marking just the third time this season UCI has had five or more players scoring in double-digits

> Max Hazzard finished with 14 points while Evan Leonard, Tommy Rutherford and Jonathan Galloway had 13, 11, 10 points, respectively
 
> The Anteaters used a strong defensive effort to defeat UC Riverside, 63-44, in the quarterfinals. UCI 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  

> 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 11.1 ppg

> Jonathan Galloway upped his career rebound total to 953. He has 277 rebounds this season which ranks 7^th all-time in a single-season at UCI

 > UCI became the first team to go undefeated on the road in conference play since Pacific (2004-05), finishing 8-0

> UCI is 4-1 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

> UCI is receiving votes in the National Coaches Poll for the first time this season

 > UCI is 27-1 when totaling the more or same rebounds as an opponent

> Elston Jones has tallied at least one block in all but four games and leads UCI with 54 total blocks

>Jonathan Galloway has led the team in rebounding 19 times and averages a team-best 8.1 rpg

> Over the past two seasons, UCI is 8-2 when playing games at a hockey arena