UC Irvine (6-4, 2-0) vs. Cal Poly (2-8, 0-4)
Friday, Jan. 22 | 4 p.m.
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 & KUCI Radio | Live Stats | Watch – ESPN3
UC Irvine (6-4, 2-0) vs. Cal Poly (2-8, 0-4)
Saturday, Jan. 23 | 4 p.m.
Bren Events Center |Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 & KUCI Radio | Live Stats | Watch –ESPN3

Game Notes
 
After a 24 day break from Big West action, UC Irvine continues conference play with a two-game series against Cal Poly at the Bren Events Center. Both games are set for a 4 p.m. tip time and can be streamed on ESPN3 and listened to on AM830/KUCI.

OPENING TIPS
> The Anteaters opened the Big West season 2-0 for the third-straight year and sit atop the Big West standings. UCI has a 4-4 record in the non-conference portion of its schedule. The 'Eaters have won four-straight games and have not lost since Dec. 17
> The 'Eaters won their first road game of the season at UCSD, 79-65. UCI is a perfect 5-0 at home. The 'Eaters are 56-11 in BWC home games since the 2012-13 season.
> UCI has not played a Big West game, a 24 day break, since opening the conference season at home against UCSB (Dec. 27-28). The 'Eaters (2-0) and UC Davis (0-0) are the only two BWC teams without a conference loss
> UCI has won six-straight against the Mustangs, its last lost came on Jan. 26, 2017 at the Bren Events Center. The 'Eaters are 30-4 in Big West regular season games over the last two-plus seasons
> Freshman Dawson Baker has had a strong start for UCI, finishing in double-digit scoring eight-out-of-10 games. He set a career-high 21 points against La Sierra and is averaging a team-high 12.2 ppg. He also led the 'Eaters in scoring against USC (17 points). He tops all Big West freshmen in scoring and is the only freshmen in the conference to lead his team in scoring

CAREER RECORD WATCH
> Brad Greene became the 24^th Anteater in history to reach 500 career rebounds after finishing with eight at SDSU. He now sits at 558 career boards which puts him at 18th all-time. Greene has 642 career points and this season he is averaging 9.7 points per game. He had a career-high 20 points in UCI's season-opener against Pepperdine
> Collin Welp is approaching 1,000 career points. The junior currently sits at 853 points
> UCI's returning leading scorer Collin Welp scored in double-digits in the 'Eaters first two Big West games. Welp is second on the team averaging 11.8 ppg. He also notched a career-high 19 rebounds at LMU and leads the team on the boards (7.1 rpg)
> UCI has outrebounded 7-of-10 opponents and has a +11.1 rebound margin through 10 games. The 'Eaters rank 7^th in the nation in rebound margin
> Head coach Russell Turner ranks sixth all-time on the Big West coaching wins list with 215. He just surpassed LBSU's Dan Monson (214). Turner is one of seven BW head coaches with 200 or more wins
> The 2020-21 Anteaters have the second youngest team (Navy is first with 19 underclassman) in the NCAA with 13 underclassman and just two upperclassman. UCI is also tied with Auburn for the least number of upperclassman on the roster (2).
> Last season, the Anteaters won their fifth Big West regular season title in seven seasons and eighth in program history. It was also the first time in history UCI won back-to-back outright titles. The 'Eaters did so with a 13-3 conference record, winning three more games than second place UCSB. Since 2013-14, Russell Turner's program is 88-24 (.786) in Big West play.
> UCI's non-conference schedule was ranked as the 15^th hardest in the country by KenPom
> The 'Eaters are 92-21 at home over the last eight years

With a win Friday … UCI will stay undefeated in BWC play, improving to 3-0 … Stay undefeated at home (6-0) … Win seven-straight against the Mustangs

BIG WEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
> UCI has had two Big West Players of the Week this season. Collin Welp earned the honor for the week of Dec. 21-28, while freshman DJ Davis was POW for the week of Jan. 4-10
> After UCI's sweep of UCSB, junior Collin Welp was named the Big West Player of the Week
> Welp averaged 13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in UCI's two wins. He shot 44.4% (12-27) from the field while adding two steals and a block
> Davis earned POW honors after a non-conference win at UCSD, marking the first time an Anteater freshman earned the accolade since Luke Nelson in 2014
> Davis finished the game with a career-high 23 points and a career-best five three's made. He went 8-11 from the field and 5-8 from long range. Davis added two assists, a rebound and a steal and helped UCI win its fourth-straight game

'EATERS SWEEP GAUCHOS
> UCI opened the conference season 2-0 after sweeping UCSB in back-to-back home games. The 'Eaters earned a 19-point win on Dec. 27 and followed that up with a 73-69 comeback victory on Dec. 28
> In the first game, Brad Greene finished with his first double-double of the season (14 points, 12 rebounds) while Welp added 11 points and JC Butler and Dawson Baker each had nine
> UCI shot 53.4 percent overall and held UCSB to just 32.1 percent shooting from the floor
> In game two, the Gauchos led by nine with under 10 minutes to play but UCI used a 24-11 run to earn the comeback win
> Welp finished with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds while Baker added 14 and Greene had 10 points

LAST TIME OUT
> UCI's last game was a 79-65 non-conference win over UC San Diego. Despite trailing at the half, the 'Eaters outscored the Tritons 55-37 in the second half to earn their fourth-straight win
> Freshman DJ Davis scored a career-high 23 points behind five three's made

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
> Cal Poly is looking for its first conference win after dropping two games to CSU Bakersfield and two games to UC Riverside
> The Mustangs are led by Alimamy Koroma who is the only player averaging double-digits, 11.4 ppg
> Riley Till is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game
> John Smith is in his second season at the helm with a 9-31 overall record and 4-16 in the Big West

UP NEXT
> UCI travels to Hawai'i for two games Jan. 29-30. Tip off is scheduled for 9 p.m. PT.