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UC Irvine Anteaters (8-7, 3-3) at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (8-8, 1-3)
Thursday, February 3 - 7:00 p.m.
Thunderdome (6,000) - Santa Barbara, Calif.

AM 830 KLAA Radio | KUCI Radio | Live Stats | ESPN+ | Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters (8-7, 3-3) at CSUN Matadors (5-14, 1-6)
Saturday, February 5 - 7:00 p.m.
Matadome (3,106) - Northridge, Calif.

AM 830 KLAA Radio | KUCI Radio | Live Stats | ESPN+ | Notes

UCI is back on the road with trips to Santa Barbara and Northridge after canceled matchups in January

Storylines
· The Anteaters returned to the win column taking down CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly with defense back at the lead allowing 50 points per game in the two matchups.
· UCI's best defensive half came Saturday vs. Cal Poly allowing 19 first half points topping the 22 second half points allowed at UC Riverside.
· Thursday's win came without allowing a three-pointer. CSU Bakersfield went 0-from-12 from deep pushing UCI to the nation's top three-point defense following the game. Entering this week, UCI stands third nationally allowing opponents to shoot 26.4% from outside the arc.
· Collin Welp continues to climb the Anteater record books. He has surpassed his coaches, Alex Young and Michael Wilder, already this season. He's now alone in 10th in program history with 1,363 points after beginning the year 26th in UCI history. Next on the list 21 points ahead of Welp is Will Davis II in ninth. Welp is rising up the rebound records as well now with 643. He's ascended to 13th all-time in UCI history after starting the season 23rd. He's got a little ways to the next spot with Ben McDonald 27 rebounds ahead in 12th.
· Welp has put up big numbers during this season. He has two double-doubles, both in road matchups at Long Beach State and Santa Clara. Welp put up 25 second-half points hitting all 10 shots en route to a 30-point night; his second 30-point career game, at UC Riverside. He has 10 career games with 20+ points in his career, two this season joining his 24-point effort at USC. He added a team-high eight rebounds in the game.
· UCI's stretch of games with multiple players scoring double figures ended Thursday night - 13 straight games to start the season -  with just Austin Johnson posting 11. Collin Welp has reached double digits in 13 of 15 games. UCI has had three with double digits in six games this year including Saturday at Long Beach State, and four in double digits vs. La Verne.
· High scorers have come from seven different Anteaters in their 15 games with Justin Hohn topping the team for a first-time tying a career high with 13. Welp has led the team in scoring seven times while five different players have led the team in rebounding led by Welp and Austin Johnson six times, and eight different players leading or tied for most assists led by Justin Hohn six times.
· Nationally, the Anteater defense is among the nation's best. UCI was tops in the NCAA in scoring defense in mid-December settling in at 16th in the NCAA as the conclusion of non-conference play. Entering the week, UCI allows 59.0 points per game, 10th in the nation, which included 48 points allowed vs. Cal Poly and the lowest-scoring half of 19.
· UCI also ranks high nationally in defending the three at third nationally as well as 13th in overall field goal percentage, 15th in fewest turnovers, 17th in fewest fouls, and top 100 in rebounding margin, scoring margin, and rebounds per game.
· Austin Johnson has been a prolific shot blocker with 38 this season and ranking 26th nationally with 2.53 per game, both numbers leading the conference. He also put down 16 points at UC Riverside for his highest career total against a Division I opponent. Four of his eight career double-digit point games have come in his last eight games with three in Big West matchups.
· Fall 2021 Dean's List was announced with 113 UCI student-athletes recognized with GPAs over 3.50. Collin Welp, Bent Leuchten, and Emmanuel Tshimanga made the list for men's basketball.
· Will Davis II returns to the G-League after being claimed by the South Bay Lakers in late December. The Anteater alum joins his fifth G-League team since becoming a pro in 2015. He made his 2022 debut last week, and so far in five games is averaging 3.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 1.6 BPG

 
 

 
 

The 2021-22 Anteaters
· Collin Welp has earned Big West Player of the Week twice. He has four at UCI and both this season for UCI. The first coming November 29 featured a performance at Santa Clara where he had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He claimed a second January 10 following his second career 30-point game at UC Riverside scoring 25 in the second half. He was named one of the Big West All-Big West Players of 2021 according to Hoops HD. Welp was also was 1 of 50 players named to the 2021-22 Lou Henson National Player of the Year award preseason list presented to the top mid-major player annually. UCI has been a staple on Mid-Major Top 25 polls at No. 21 last week and as high as No. 10 in some polls this season.
· UC Irvine finished 5-4 in non-conference play, the fourth winning record through non-conference play under head coach Russell Turner with UCI winning the Big West the three previous times.
· Non-conference play featured a spotless home record of 4-0 including impactful wins over Boise State holding them to 50 points and a 34-point victory over Pepperdine.
· UCI's tough road slate sent them to New Mexico State to start the year as well as Fresno State and nearly overtaking an undefeated, 10th-ranked USC squad in the Galen Center. UCI scored one road victory defeating a stout Santa Clara squad with a late-game 14-2 run.
·  UC Irvine began what was supposed to be a 27-day stretch away from the Bren Events Center after their win over Bethesda December 3. With the cancelations to begin Big West play, UCI returns Thursday to the Bren ending a stretch of 48 days without a home game. Following the postponement vs. Buffalo, UCI played at UC Riverside after a 20-day layoff between contests.
· The 'Eaters played in Akron, Ohio at the LeBron James Arena at St. Vincent/St. Mary's High School taking on Duquesne in a loss. Their road trip of 27 days away from the Bren Events Center was cut short as its trip to Buffalo to end it was postponed due to health and safety protocols.
· The Big West announced the Big West Game of the Week that will be televised on Spectrum SportsNet. One matchup will be broadcasted each Saturday at 1:00 p.m. during conference season with UCI featured twice: February 19 vs. Hawai'i and March 5 at CSU Bakersfield. A third was added, Saturday, January 20 at LBSU, after a cancelation.
· UCI was selected to finish second in the Big West according to the Coaches Poll. The Anteaters earned four of nine first-place votes finishing one vote behind preseason favorite, UC Santa Barbara. The Preseason Media Poll also selected UCI to finish second, three votes behind UCSB, and with two of the 11 first-place votes. Preseason All-Big West featured Collin Welp on both the Coaches' and Media teams. He was 1 of 4 players (Maddox—CSF, Manjon—UCD, Sow—UCSB) to appear on both teams. Dawson Baker earned honorable mention recognition on the media's team.
· The 2020-21 Anteaters had six players recognized on the Big West Winter All-Academic squad. To be eligible, student-athletes must maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA, complete one full year at their member institution, and compete in at least 50% of their team's contests. Four current members of the team were recognized in Isaiah Lee, Collin Welp, Emmanuel Tshimanga, and Ofure Ujadughele. That quartet was joined by alums Jeron Artest and Brad Greene. That 2020-21 squad also earned Team Academic Excellence Awards and Honors Court from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). UC Irvine was the only Big West school to earn the distinction. Brad Greene was recognized on the Honors Court making it for a second consecutive year.

Thursday at UC Santa Barbara
· The week begins with a much-anticipated matchup with preseason favorites, UC Santa Barbara. This will be the 99th matchup in the history of these programs with UCSB on top, 54-44. UCI is just 13-32 all-time at UCSB, but coach Turner has a 15-9 record against them including wins in seven of the last eight meetings.
· The Gauchos' season has been up and down to get to an 8-8 record. They have a win over Pepperdine and some lower mid-major programs with tough, close losses to Pacific, Saint Mary's, Washington State, and UT Arlington. Conference play hit and UCSB struggled between losses to UCSD, Long Beach State, and Cal State Fullerton mixed with five cancelations due to COVID. They got back into it winning at CSUN and losing at Hawai'i last week
· UCSB excels in shooting and setting up their shots with the conference lead in assists per game (16.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.16), scoring margin (+8.3), and field goal percentage (48.5 %). Amadou Sow is the big name averaging 15.7 points per game leading the Big West in shooting and second with 8.2 rebounds per game. Four different Gauchos average multiple assists a game led by freshman Ajay Mitchell burning it up with 7.9 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 30 MPG.

Saturday at CSUN
· The week concludes in a road tilt at CSUN, the first meeting since senior night 2020 after the last three matchups have been canceled. UCI holds the all-time mark at 39-25 with a winning record in the Matadome and a 15-5 mark against them under coach Turner. Turner and interim CSUN coach Trent Johnson passed each other on Stanford coaching staffs
· The Matadors are at 5-14 on the year with one win in seven Big West games downing Cal Poly by 13. Aside from a seven points loss to Hawai'I, all other Big West losses have been by double digits.
· Statistically, CSUN is at the bottom of the nation in assists per game, but excel at forcing turnovers. They average 60 points per game behind Atin Wright's 13 PPG and making 88% of free throws. He's joined by 10.7 PPG from Elijah Hardy