FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (9-8, 1-0) at Cal St. Fullerton (5-12, 0-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 15 |7:00 p.m.
Titan Gym | Fullerton, Calif.
AM830/KUCI Radio | Live Stats | ESPN3
 
UC Riverside (12-6, 2-0) at UC Irvine (9-8, 1-0)
Saturday, Jan. 18 |7:30 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000)| Irvine, Calif.
AM830/KUCI Radio | Live Stats | KDOC-TV | Tickets

Game Notes
 
UC Irvine continues conference play with a mid-week game at CS Fullerton Wednesday, Jan. 15 followed by a home contest against UC Riverside Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. on KDOC.
 
OPENING TIPS
> The Anteaters opened conference play with a win for third consecutive year and moved to 9-8 overall after defeating Hawai'i, 74-60, last Saturday
 
> Head Coach Russell Turner tied Pat Douglass for the most wins by a head coach in UCI history (197 wins) against Hawaii. Turner reached win 197 in 55 fewer games. He needs one more win to own the outright record. Turner is also three wins shy of 200, only six other Big West head coaches have achieved that feat
 
> UCI will look to snap a five-game road losing streak on Wednesday. The 'Eaters last road win came at Boise State on Nov. 15
 
> The Anteaters have gone almost two years without losing a Big West game on the road (13-straight games). UCI's last conference road loss was against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 20, 2018)
 
> The 'Eaters are 8-1 when leading at halftime but have struggled to win when trailing at half time, going 1-6
 
> UCI has won its last three games played at the Bren by margins of 10+ points. The Anteaters are 80-21 at home over the last seven years

Career Milestones
> Senior Tommy Rutherford will be next in line to hit the 1,000 point mark. He has 992 points on his career and will become the 30^th Anteater to do so. Rutherford eclipsed the 600 rebound mark against Pacific (Dec. 28) and is second in the Big West in active rebounds (605). He will be just the 13^th Anteater to score 1,000 career points and grab 600 rebounds
 
> When Rutherford gets to 1,000 points, it will mark the first time in program history that three Anteaters in the same graduating class have reached 1,000 career points

> Senior Evan Leonard became the 28^th player in school history to accumulate 1,000 career points after scoring 15 against CBU. He is 6^th in the Big West in active career points and leads the conference in career steals (122)
 
> Senior guard Eyassu Worku became the 29th Anteater to reach 1,000 career points after scoring 10 against Pacific Union. Worku became the 10th Anteaters in school history to eclipse 300 assists. He did so at Colorado Monday, Nov. 18. He is the Big West's second active career leader in assists (351) and 5^th in scoring (1088)
 
> Brad Greene set a new Bren Events Center record against Hawaii (Jan. 11) when he pulled down 21 rebounds. It was the ninth time in UCI history an Anteater grabbed 20+ boards
 
> RS sophomore Collin Welp comes off the bench and leads UCI in scoring (14.4 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.6 rpg)
 
> UCI has out-rebounded all but two of its opponents this season. The Anteaters rank second nationally in rebounding margin (+10.5) and 14th in total rebounds (699)
 
> UCI is 16^th nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 37.6% shooting from the field
 
With a win Wednesday … Head coach Russell Turner would reach his 198th career win, marking the most head coach wins in UCI history … UCI would win four-straight games against CSF … Win its 14^th-straight BWC road game … Improve to 2-0 in conference for the second-straight year … Snap a 5-game road losing streak

ABOUT THE TITANS
> CSF is 5-12 on the season and 0-2 in Big West play after opening week losses to Hawai'i and UC Riverside
> Senior guard Austen Awosika leads the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and assists (3.9). Jackson Rowe (12.8 ppg), Brandon Kamga (12.8 ppg) and Wayne Arnold (10.1 ppg) also average double-digit points
> Rowe leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game
> UCI has won three-straight meetings with the Titans including a 28-point victory over CSF in the Big West Tournament championship game last season
> The Anteaters hold a 56-55 edge over CSF in the all-time series and are 15-6 against the Titans in the Turner era
> Head coach Dedrique Taylor is in his 7^th season at the helm

ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS
> UCR is 2-0 in Big West play for just the second time in the school's history and leads the Big West with a 12-6 overall record
> UCR will host CSUN before coming to Irvine
> The Highlanders are No. 12 nationally in scoring defense at 59.3 points per game
> UCR has nine players averaging at least five points per game as Arinze Chidom leads the team with 12.1 ppg and 8.0 rebounds per game
> UCI has won 11-straight against UCR and leads the all-time series 45-24. The 'Eaters have not lost to the Highlanders since Feb. 14, 2015

BREN RECORD FALLS IN WIN OVER HAWAII
> UCI controlled the boards and opened Big West play with a 74-60 win over Hawai'i
> Brad Greene recorded his conference-best fourth double-double, pulling down a career-high 21 rebounds, a Bren Events Center record and the most since Bob Thorton had 22 in 1984. He added 13 points in the win
> Greene is one of 6 players in the country to grab 20+ rebounds this season and one of 9 all-time at UCI
> Collin Welp led the 'Eaters with 18 points

QUICK HITS
> Tommy Rutherford is UCI's active games played leader with 125 consecutive games
> Collin Welp has led the team in scoring in 13 games
> Eyassu Worku is ranked 27^th nationally and second in the Big West in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.58)
 
SENIOR LEADERS
> Eyassu Worku, Evan Leonard, Tommy Rutherford and John Edgar Jr. have all played together since they were all sophomores in 2017-18. The four seniors have started a combined 265 games
> Through 17 games, Worku leads the team with 67 assists (3.9 apg) and is second in scoring (12.4 ppg). Leonard is third on the team in scoring (10.3) while Rutherford is fourth (9.8 ppg)
> Worku, Leonard and Rutherford are All-Big West Conference selections
> Rutherford is shooting a team-best 67.4% (63-92) from the floor while Worku is shooting 48.4% from three-point range
 
THE WELP EFFECT
> RS Sophomore Collin Welp comes off the bench and is UCI's leading scorer (14.4 ppg) and second rebounder (6.6 rpg). He is averaging 24.3 minutes per game. Welp had a career-high 18 rebounds against Detroit Mercy (11/24) and has posted two double-doubles on the season. He finished with a career-high 31 points and 7 three's made against Eastern Michigan (Nov. 30)
 
BRAD IS BACK
> Coming off a redshirt season in 2018-19, RS junior Brad Greene is making an immediate impact for UCI. He is averaging a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game and is fifth in scoring (8.6 ppg). Greene has a conference-best four double-doubles this season and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds against Hawaii (Jan. 11)