FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (11-8, 3-0) at Long Beach State (6-14, 1-3)
Wednesday, Jan. 22 |7:00 p.m.
Walter Pyramid | Long Beach, Calif.
AM830/KUCI Radio | Live Stats | ESPN3
 
Cal Poly (4-13, 1-2) at UC Irvine (11-8, 3-0)
(Coaches vs. Cancer)
Saturday, Jan. 18 |7:30 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000)| Irvine, Calif.
AM830/KUCI Radio | Live Stats | ESPN3 | Tickets

Game Notes
 
UC Irvine continues conference play with a mid-week game at Long Beach State Wednesday, Jan. 22 followed by a home contest against Cal Poly Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 p.m. Both games will be featured on ESPN3.
 
OPENING TIPS
> The Anteaters remain the only undefeated team in Big West play after opening the season 3-0 for the first time since 2017. UCI has earned double-digit wins in all three contests including games against Hawai'i (74-60), CS Fullerton (74-61) and UC Riverside (69-53)
> UCI is one of 19 unbeaten teams in the nation conference play and one of two in California
 > Head Coach Russell Turner became the winningest coach in UCI history after notching his 198th career win against CS Fullerton. Turner reached win 198 in 55 fewer games than Pat Douglass who held the record at 197. He also became just the 8th coach in Big West history to notch 100 Big West wins. Turner is one win shy of 200, only six other Big West head coaches have achieved that feat
> The Anteaters have gone over two years without losing a Big West game on the road (14-straight games). UCI's last conference road loss was against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 20, 2018)
> UCI has a 16-game BWC winning streak. This is the longest in UCI history and the longest in the Big West since Long Beach State won 23 straight from 2011 to 2012
> The 'Eaters are 10-1 when leading at halftime but have struggled to win when trailing at half time, going 1-7
> UCI has won its last four games played at the Bren by margins of 10+ points. The Anteaters are 81-21 at home over the last seven years and 6-1 this season
Career Milestones
> Senior Tommy Rutherford became the 30th Anteater to hit the 1,000 point mark against CS Fullerton (1/15/20). Rutherford eclipsed the 600 rebound mark against Pacific (Dec. 28) and is second in the Big West in active rebounds (619). He is the 13th Anteater to score 1,000 career points and grab 600 rebounds
> Senior Evan Leonard became the 28th player in school history to accumulate 1,000 career points after scoring 15 against CBU. He is 6th 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 (353) and 5th in scoring
> This is the only time in program history that three players in the same graduating class have eclipsed 1,000 career points
> 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 rebounding (6.7 rpg)
> UCI has out-rebounded all but three of its opponents this season. The Anteaters rank fifth nationally in rebounding margin (+9.7) and 15th in total rebounds (776)
> UCI is 10th nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 37.1% shooting from the field
 
With a win Wednesday … UCI would win its 17th-straight Big West Conference game ... Head coach Russell Turner would get to 200 career wins … The 'Eaters would win 15-straight Big West games on the road … Improve to 4-0 in BWC for the first time since 2017

ABOUT THE BEACH
> LBSU is currently at the bottom of the Big West Standings with a 1-3 Big West record and 6-14 overall record. The Beach only conference win came at UC Santa Barbara, 55-52, on Jan. 11
> LBSU ranks first in the conference in total blocked shots (74) while Joshua Morgan leads the Big West averaging 2.30 blocks per game
> Chance Hunter, Michael Carter III and Colin Slater average in double-digits for LBSU with 14.8, 12.1 and 11.2 ppg, respectively. Hunter leads the team with 5.1 rebounds per game
> UCI went 2-1 against the Beach a year ago as LBSU handed the 'Eaters their only conference loss. UCI turned around and beat LBSU in Walter Pyramid and in the BWT semifinals
> The 'Eaters trail the all-time series, 59-46
> Dan Monson is in his 12th season with the Beach and owns a 206-210 record

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
> Cal Poly is 1-2 in the Big West and 4-13 overall. The Mustangs' only conference win came against CSUN on Jan. 11, 74-56
> UCI is 34-22 all-time against Cal Poly and has won 4-straight matchups and 9 of its last 10 games against the Mustangs
> The 'Eaters won both games against CP last season including a 110-72 decision in SLO. UCI's last loss to CP was Jan. 26, 2016
> Junior Ballard is the only Mustang averaging double-digits (10.9 ppg) while Kyle Colvin leads the team in rebounding (4.8 rpg)
> CP has a -34 rebounding margin, -7.9 scoring margin and -1.4 turnover margin. The Mustangs average 63.1 ppg
> John Smith is in his first season at the helm

BALANCED SCORING LEADS TO WIN OVER UC RIVERSIDE
> UCI shot 57.1% from the field overall and held UCR to a season-low 28.3% from the floor in a 16-point, 69-53, victory
> Evan Leonard paced the 'Eaters with 13 points while Brad Greene had 11
> The Anteaters led for the entire 40 minutes going up by as much as 19 points
> UCI is 12-0 against UCR since March  2015

CAREER MILESTONES REACHED IN WIN AT CS FULLERTON
> Head coach Russell Turner became UCI's winningest coach, grabbing his 198th career win at CS Fullerton Wednesday
> Tommy Rutherford hit the 1,000 career points mark after scoring nine against the Titans. He also tied a career-best 14 rebounds at CSF

BREN RECORD FALLS IN 74-60 WIN OVER HAWAII
> 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
> Greene was named the Big West Player of the Week (Jan.13) for his record-breaking performance

QUICK HITS
> Tommy Rutherford is UCI's active games played leader with 127 consecutive games
> Collin Welp has led the team in scoring in 14 games
> Eyassu Worku is ranked 26th nationally and second in the Big West in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.55)
> Welp and Worku rank first and second in the Big West in three-point fg percentage at 49.1% and 48.6%, respectively
 
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 271 games
> Through 19 games, Worku leads the team with 67 assists (3.9 apg) and is second in scoring (12.5 ppg). Leonard is third on the team in scoring (10.9) while Rutherford is fourth (10.9 ppg)
> Worku, Leonard and Rutherford are All-Big West Conference selections
> Rutherford is shooting a team-best 66.1% (72-109) from the floor while Worku is shooting 48.6% 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 6.7 rebounds per game and is fifth in scoring (8.3 ppg). Greene has a conference-best four double-doubles this season and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds against Hawaii (Jan. 11)