FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine Anteaters (14-8, 8-4) at Cal Poly Mustangs (5-20, 1-12)
Thursday, March 3 - 7:00 p.m.
Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, Calif.

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

UC Irvine Anteaters (14-8, 8-4) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (7-16, 2-11)
The Big West Game of the Week on Spectrum SportsNet
Saturday, February 5 - 1:00 p.m.
Icardo Center (3,497) - Bakersfield, Calif.

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

Big West title and Big West tournament seeding are still up for grabs in the regular season's final week.

Storylines
· UC Irvine split their matchups last week losing at second-place Cal State Fullerton, which snapped a seven-game win streak, and winning at home to Long Beach State on Senior Night. Notable in the games were Justin Hohn posting a career high 17 points Thursday and 30 points over the two games, and Dawson Baker leading the squad Saturday with 18 points, his third-highest total.
· UCI enters the week fourth in the Big West. The 'Eaters still have a path to the win the Big West regular season title. In order to do so, all of the following would have to happen:
· UCI will need to win at both Cal Poly and CSU Bakersfield
· Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State, who are tied atop the conference and each take on UC Davis and UC Riverside, will both need to lose both games this week
· Third-place Hawai'i will need to lose one of their matchups at UCSB or CSUN
· The lowest the 'Eaters can finish in the Big West would be the No. 7 seed. For that to happen, UCI would need to lose both matchups this week, and UC Riverside, UC Davis, and UC Santa Barbara each win at least one game this week.
· UC Irvine leads the nation in three-point defense allowing 24.8% on the season. UCI shut down CSU Bakersfield allowing zero makes on 12 shots from deep three weeks ago. Over the last nine games, UCI's opponents are 34-for-162 from long range.
· Collin Welp continues to climb the Anteater record books. He has surpassed his coaches, Alex Young and Michael Wilder, already this season. He's ninth in program history with 1,454 points after beginning the year 26th. Welp is rising up the rebound records as well now with 702 passing Wayne Englestad last game now in eight in program history. He started the season 23rd on the list, and became the eighth Anteater with 700 career rebounds.
· Welp dropped his fourth double-double of the season and third in conference play against Hawai'i joining UCR and LBSU with 18 points and a season high-tying 13 rebounds. Throughout the season, Welp has had some solid offensive performances including putting up 25 second-half points and hitting all 10 shots en route to a 30-point night; the second of his career, at UCR. He has 10 career games with 20+ points in his career, two this season joined by 24 points at USC. He's rising up the ranks at 52nd nationally and second in Big West from the line shooting 86.2%.
· High scorers have come from seven different Anteaters in their 21 games. Welp has led the team in scoring and rebounding 10 times and assists seven times to lead the team in each stat.
· The Anteater free throw shooting jumped from 63rd to 36th nationally last week at 75.9%. The 'Eaters are shooting 80.2% in Big West play, have missed a total of three shots over their last three games, and have the conference's leading free-throw shooter in Collin Welp at 86.2%
· 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, eighth in the nation, which included 48 points allowed vs. Cal Poly and the lowest-scoring half of 19. The 'Eaters are 11-0 when keeping opponents under 60 points in a game and five times have held teams to 50 or less.
· UCI also ranks first nationally in defending the three at 24.8%. In addition, it is 12th in defensive field goal percentage leading the conference at 38.4%, and also leads the conference in rebounds per game and rebound margin.
· Austin Johnson has been a prolific shot blocker with 53 this season and ranking 28th nationally with 2.41 per game, both numbers leading the conference, and posted his third 5-block game vs. UC Riverside. He also put down 16 points at UC Riverside for his highest career total vs. a DI foe.
· Fall 2021 Dean's List was announced with 113 UCI student-athletes recognized with GPAs over 3.50. Welp, Bent Leuchten, and Emmanuel Tshimanga made the list for men's basketball.
· Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll for 2021 dropped last week with seven Anteaters named including Emmanual Tshimanga, Collin Welp, Dawson Baker, Isaiah Lee, Andre Henry, Hunter Ruck, and Ofure Ujadughele.
· 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. Other Anteaters currently playing pro are Tommy Rutherford in Switzerland, Brad Greene in Germany, Jonathan Galloway in Finland, Eyassu Worku in North Macedonia, and Luke Nelson in France

24.8 - The Anteaters are the best in the nation at defending the three allowing opponents to shoot 24.8% from beyond the arc. UCI allows just 59.2 points per game, 8th-lowest in the NCAA including allowing 34-for-162 from three in their last 9 games and 0-for-12 in the win vs. CSUB
700 - Collin Welp became the 8th Anteater to record 700 or more career rebounds. He stands eighth in the program's all-time rebounding list after starting the year 23rd and surpassing players like Wayne Englestad, Brad Greene, and Kevin Magee just last week
11-0 - UC Irvine is 14-8 this season and in half of them have held opponents under 60 points going 11-0 in those games. UCI has held Big West opponents under 60 six times allowing a Big West-best 60.7 points per game in their 12 conference games
36th - The Anteaters have quickly risen to 36th in the NCAA in free throw percentage at 75.9% with the conference's leading FT shooter, Collin Welp, at 86.2%. The 'Eaters are shooting 80.2% in Big West play including just 1 miss in each of the last three games

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 came November 29 featuring a performance at Santa Clara with 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 as high as No. 10 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. The Anteaters' Senior Night last Saturday was nationally televised on ESPNU; a 77-72 victory over Long Beach State.
· 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 Cal Poly
· The Mustangs come into Thursday with a 5-20 record and one Big West win, but managed single-digit losses in four of their last five. UCI held them to a season-low 19 points first-half points at the time en route to a 72-48 win in the Bren on January 29. Trevon Taylor led CP with 13 points and seven rebounds while 12 different Anteaters scored led by Justin Hohn's 13 that tied a career high at the time. Alimamy Koroma's 13.4 PPG tops Cal Poly for the season.

Saturday at CSU Bakersfield
· UCI and CSUB meet at 1:00 p.m. for The Big West Game of the Week. They're battling with Cal Poly near the bottom of the standings with seven wins overall and two in the Big West recently topping the Mustangs by one. Last meeting was a five-point, 57-52 Anteater win on January 27. Four Runners accounted for 48 of their 52 points, but Austin Johnson paced UCI with team-highs 11 points, five rebounds, and four blocks in the win. CSUB was held without a three pointer. Justin McCall is the only Runner averaging double figures in scoring.