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UC Irvine Anteaters (10-7, 5-3) vs. UC Riverside Highlanders (12-7, 5-3)
Thursday, February 10 - 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Salute to Heroes Game

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UC Irvine Anteaters (10-7, 5-3) vs. UC Davis Aggies (9-7, 3-3)
Canceled

UC Irvine returns home on a four-game win streak to host the Highlanders Thursday night

Storylines
· The Anteaters returned to the win column and have won four straight games over CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly, UCSB, and CSUN allowing 55.5 points per game during the streak.
· 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.
· UC Irvine leads the nation in three-point defense allowing 25.8% on the season. UCI shut down CSU Bakersfield allowing zero makes on 12 shots from deep two weeks ago. Opponents are just 12-for-60 in the four-game win streak from three.
· Collin Welp continues to climb the Anteater record books. He has surpassed his coaches, Alex Young and Michael Wilder, already this season. He's alone in ninth in program history with 1,390 points after beginning the year 26th in UCI history, and passed Will Davis II Saturday at CSUN. Welp is rising up the rebound records as well now with 660. He's ascended to 13th all-time in UCI history after starting the season 23rd. He stands nine rebounds behind Ben McDonald currently 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.
· UCI's stretch of games with multiple players scoring double figures ended vs. CSU Bakersfield - 13 straight games to start the season -  with just Austin Johnson posting 11. Collin Welp has reached double digits in 15 of 17 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 17 games with Justin Hohn topping the team for a first-time tying a career high with 13 vs. Cal Poly. Welp has led the team in scoring eight times while five different players have led the team in rebounding led by Welp eight 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 59.2 points per game, ninth in the nation, which included 48 points allowed vs. Cal Poly and the lowest-scoring half of 19.
· UCI also ranks first nationally in defending the three at 25.8%. In addition, it is 12th in overall field goal percentage, and top 100 in rebounding margin, scoring margin, and rebounds per game.
· Austin Johnson has been a prolific shot blocker with 41 this season and ranking 25th nationally with 2.41 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's played six games so far posting 2.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.3 BPG in 11.1 minutes a game.
 

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 Salute to Heroes Game vs. UC Riverside
· The Highlanders sit at 5-3 in Big West picking up big wins over Cal State Fullerton and Hawai'I recently. Three losses have come to LBSU and UC Davis along with a 22-point half in a loss to UC Irvine at home to start Big West. Overall, UCR is 12-7 including a buzzer-beater upset win at Arizona State.
· UC Riverside mirrors UC Irvine's play ranking top 15 in the nation in scoring defense (59.9), defensive rebounding (28.95 per game), and three-point defense (28.2%). UCR tops the conference in overall rebounds per game with 37.53 and three-point attempts shooting 438 total. They do commit 15.5 fouls per game which is most in the conference. UCR is also near the top of the Big West in FG defense, rebounds, and three-pointers made per game.
· The January game was overtaken by Collin Welp with his second career 30-point game dropping 25 in the second half. UCR was led by J.P. Moorman scoring 16 pts in 22 minutes. The team's leader Zyon Pullin who averages 13.3 PPG, 73 assists, and 33.9 minutes per game was held to five points in 26 minutes off the bench. The Highlanders posted 12 assists, one of the highest totals on the season vs. UCI, but turned the ball over 15 times leading to 15 points.

Saturday Homecoming vs. UC Davis
· This is the first matchup between UCI and UC Davis after the first was canceled due to COVID concerns in early January. The sides didn't match last season either. The Aggies are also 10-7 with wins at Utah State and Oregon State, but have fallen to Pepperdine, Sac State, and at home to DII Academy of Art. UCD's 3-3 record in conference has seen five canceled games, wins at CSUN, UC Riverside and vs. Hawai'i, but losses at Cal Poly and vs. CSF and LBSU.
· UCI holds a 27-18 record all-time in the series including at 14-5 mark at home and 14-7 under coach Turner.
· The Aggies averaged 68.7 points per game while allowing 66.6 points. The UCI three-point defense will be tested with UCD averaging over six makes a game. The Aggies are among the best shooting teams in the conference, but do not defend the three well, are last in free throw percentage, and are near the bottom in rebounding.
Ezra Manjon and Elijah Pepper are two of the top five scorers in the Big West both over 15 a game. Manjon is coming off his second Big West POTW. Pepper lights it up from deep while Christian Anigwe leads with 6.3 rebounds per game