Conference Leaders Host LBSU, Travel to CSUN

Wednesday, February 19

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

Long Beach State

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Conference Leaders Host LBSU, Travel to CSUN

February 18, 2020 | Men's Basketball

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (17-10, 9-2) vs. Long Beach State (9-17, 4-6)
Black and Blue Rivalry series
Wednesday, Feb. 19 |7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
KUCI Radio | Live Stats | ESPN3

UC Irvine (17-10, 9-2) at CSUN (11-16, 6-5)
Saturday, Feb. 22 |7:00 p.m.
The Matadome | Northridge, Calif.
KUCI Radio | Live Stats | BigWest.tv

Game Notes

OPENING TIPS
> The Anteaters remain atop the Big West standings with an 9-2 record and improved to 17-10 overall after road wins at UC Riverside, 63-59, on Wednesday night and at Hawaii, 70-63, Saturday night
> UCI holds a three game lead in the Big West standings. UC Davis and CSUN are both second with 6-5 records
> The 'Eaters have won 27 out of their last 30 Big West games including 11-straight at the Bren Events Center. UCI is 17-2 over its last 19 Big West road games
> LBSU handed UCI its last Big West home loss over a year ago, Jan. 16, 2019, by a score of 70-80
> The 'Eaters have not been swept by LBSU since 2012
> UCI has won six of its last seven games played at the Bren by margins of 10+ points. The Anteaters are 84-21 at home over the last seven years and 9-1 this season
> Over the last seven seasons, UCI has never lost more than three conference games through 11 games, going 9-2 in 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2019-20. In those years, UCI's best start was 10-1 in 2018-19
> The 'Eaters are 15-1 when leading at halftime
> The Anteaters rank 2nd nationally in rebounding margin (+9.6), behind Houston (+9.7) and 10th in total rebounds (1,077). UCI has out-rebounded all but five of its opponents this season
> Since 2012-13, UCI is 98-6 when holding opponents to 60 points or less and 5-1 in 2019-20 when doing so
> Evan Leonard is averaging a team-high 13.8 ppg in conference play. He averaged 9.5 ppg in non-conference action. He has scored in double-digits in 12-straight games
> Brad Greene has led UCI in rebounding in five-consecutive games. Greene tallied his sixth double-double of the season against UC Davis (Feb. 6) and is averaging nearly a double-double in conference play (9.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
> The Anteaters have won 6 of their 11 Big West games by margins of 10+ points. UCI's 91-61 win over CS Fullerton (Feb. 1) was the first 30-point against a DI team for the 'Eaters this season
> UCI has swept the home-and-away series against UC Davis, Hawaii, Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside. The 'Eaters have yet to face CSUN
> 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 (13.8 ppg) and is second in rebounding (6.2 rpg)
> UCI is 13^th nationally, 1^st in the BW in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 38.3% shooting from the field
> UCI has tried out six different starting lineups this season, the starting five of Leonard, Worku, Rutherford, Greene and Edgar Jr. has the best record at 10-5
> UCI has not lost back-to-back Big West games since a three-game stretch in 2017

With a win Wednesday… Win 12-straight Big West at home … Qualify for the Big West Tournament … Improve to 10-1 at home this season … win 8^th-consecutive home game

ABOUT THE BEACH
> LBSU is 4-6 in conference and 9-17 on the season. The Beach are coming off two wins last week at Hawaii and against UCR
> LBSU won the first meeting with UCI on Jan. 22, 56-63
> LBSU leads the conference in total blocks with 103 and blocks per game (4.0). Individually, Joshua Morgan leads the Big West with 2.46 bpg and 64 total blocks. The Beach also lead the conference with 15.04 turnovers forced per game
> UCI trails LBSU 46-60 in the all-time series, however, the 'Eaters have a 24-22 home record against the Beach

ABOUT THE MATADORS
> CSUN is tied for second in the conference with a 6-5 record. The Matadors are 11-16 on the season and coming off a 110-98 loss at UC Davis
> CSUN is the only team UCI has not played this season. The 'Eaters are 38-24 all-time against the Matadors and hold an eight-game win streak against CSUN
> CSUN lead the Big West in assist to turnover ratio (1.21), scoring offense (75.6) and turnover margin (1.4)
> Individually, three Matadors lead the Big West in 17 statistical categories, including Lamine Diane in double-doubles (8), Terell Gomez in free throw percentage (.94), points per game (20.3), three's per game (3.48) and total points (548). Darius Brown II leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio (3.00) and Elijah Harkless tops the league in steals per game (1.78)

UCI EARNS 70-63 WIN AT HAWAII
> UCI won its fourth-straight game at Stan Sheriff Center and sixth-consecutive game against the 'Bows with a 70-63 victory Saturday in Honolulu. UCI swept the home and away series with UH
> Eyassu Worku had a game-high 19 points while Evan Leonard tallied 18 and Collin Welp had 15
> UCI led by as much as 13 in the second half before UH brought the game within three in the final minute. The 'Eaters were able to hold off the 'Bows with free throws in the final 30 seconds

LATE RALLY LIFTS UCI OVER UCR
> UCI trailed by nine points with 5:00 left but outscored UCR 15-3 down the stretch to earn the 63-59 victory. UCI won its 13-straight game against the Highlanders and swept the home and away series for the fifth-consecutive year
> Eyassu Worku led the team with 18 points while Collin Welp had 17, including 10 in the second half
> UCI's bench outscored UCR's 28-8

QUICK HITS
> Tommy Rutherford is UCI's active games played leader with 135 consecutive games
> Collin Welp and Eyassu have led UCI in scoring a team-high nine times each
> Brad Greene ranked first in the Big West in total rebounds (196) and second in rebounds per game (7.3)

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 21+ 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

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 299 games
> Through 27 games, Worku leads the team with 102 assists (3.7 apg) and is second in scoring (12.2 ppg). Leonard is third on the team in scoring (11.9) while Rutherford is fourth (9.4 ppg)
> Worku, Leonard and Rutherford are All-Big West Conference selections
> Rutherford is shooting a team-best 65.1% (97-149) from the floor

THE WELP EFFECT
> RS Sophomore Collin Welp comes off the bench and is UCI's leading scorer (13.8 ppg) and second-best rebounder (6.2 rpg). He is averaging 24.1 minutes per game. Welp had a career-high 18 rebounds against Detroit Mercy (11/24) and has posted five 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 7.3 rebounds per game and is fifth in scoring (8.7 ppg). Greene has a team-best six double-doubles this season and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds against Hawaii (Jan. 11) and a career-high 18 points against CSF (Feb. 1)

UP NEXT
> UCI travels to play Cal Poly Thursday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.