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Hercules Tires The Big West Basketball Championships
March 8-12, 2022
Dollar Loan Center - Henderson, Nev.
Tournament Central

Big West Quarterfinal
[4] UC Irvine Anteaters (15-9, 9-5) vs. [5] UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Dollar Loan Center - Henderson, Nev.

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Top two projected preseason teams meet in the quarterfinals as the Big West Tournament starts Thursday

Storylines
· The Anteaters finished fourth in the Big West snapping a string of eight straight seasons finishing top three, but have now finished top four in 10 straight.
· All-Big West honors were announced Monday with Collin Welp on the First Team; it's the third time he's made All-Big West First Team - a first in program history. He joins Jerry Green, Ben McDonald, and Luke Nelson as Anteater to make three All-Big West squads. Dawson Baker earned honorable mention status, his first recognition in all-conference on the heels of Big West Freshman of the Year in 2020-21.
· 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 1,471 points after beginning the year 26th. Welp is rising up the rebound records as well now with 707 passing Wayne Englestad last week now in eight in program history. He started the season 23rd on the list, and became the eighth Anteater with 700 career rebounds. Welp was the only Anteater with a double-double this season registering four of them against Santa Clara, Hawai'i, UC Riverside, and Long Beach State. He also had two games with 20 or more points giving him 10 in his career including his second 30-point game at UCR. Welp is the conference's best free-throw shooter at 86.2% which also ranks 27th in the nation.
· In the Big West, UCI's leading scorer Collin Welp ranks 11th with 13.7 points per game overall. The team has two of the top 11 rebounders with Welp seventh with 6.5 a game and Austin Johnson at 6.0 a game ranking 11th. UCI does not have anyone in the conference's top 15 in assists or minutes played.
· UC Irvine leads the nation in three-point defense allowing 25.3% on the season. UCI shut down CSU Bakersfield allowing zero makes on 12 shots from deep. Anteater opponents have shot under 30% from three in 15 games and made three or fewer three in a game in 11. Overall field goal percentage is also at 38.4%, 10th-lowest, holding opponents under 40% shooting in 15 games.
· The Anteater free throw shooting jumped from 63rd to 27th nationally over the last two weeks at 76.4%. The 'Eaters are shooting 80.4% in Big West play, have missed a total of 21 shots since the beginning of February, and have missed three or less in each of the last six contests.
· 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 tournament, UCI allows 59.5 points per game, eighth in the nation, and 61.1 in conference games 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 25.4%. In addition, it is 10th in defensive field goal percentage leading the conference at 38.4%, and also leads in rebounds per game and rebound margin.
· Austin Johnson has been a prolific shot blocker with 58 this season and ranking 26th nationally with 2.42 per game, both numbers leading the conference, and posted his third 5-block game vs. UC Riverside. On Monday, HoopsHD.com named Johnson the Big West Defensive Player of the Year.
· The team has come back four times from a halftime deficit to win. UCI is also 2-0 when it has just one player in double figures. The team is just 3-4 in Thursday games and 3-4 when playing before 5pm, but if they can win Thursday, are a combined 10-2 when playing on Fridays or Saturdays this season.
· 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 with seven Anteaters named including Emmanual Tshimanga, Collin Welp, Dawson Baker, Isaiah Lee, Andre Henry, Hunter Ruck, and Ofure Ujadughele.
Thursday vs. UC Santa Barbara
The 2021 Big West Tournament Championship rematch comes to us in the quarterfinal round as the teams picked 1-2 in the preseason poll end up the 4-5 seeds. UCSB was hobbled by canceled games early in conference season to finish just 8-5, and one of those canceled games came January 1 vs. UCI. The 'Eaters topped them at UCSB in February winning, 53-52. The Gauchos have four-time All-Big West honoree Amadou Sow leading the charge flanked by the Big West Freshman of the Year and All-Big West Second-Teamer, Ajay Mitchell, along with honorable mention, Miles Norris. UCI is 6-2 all-time against the Gauchos in the tournament, but lost the title game a year ago, 79-63.

25.3 - The Anteaters are the best in the nation at defending the three allowing opponents to shoot 25.3% from beyond the arc. UCI allows just 59.5 points per game, 8th-lowest in the NCAA, and the 10th-lowest field goal percentage allowed to opponents at 38.5%
3rd - Collin Welp secured his 3rd All-Big West First Team honor. He's the first three-time first-teamer in UCI history adding to his NABC All-District honor in 2020-21, Sixth Man of the Year award in 2019-20, and All-Big West Tournament Team accolade as a freshman
11-0 - UC Irvine has played 24 games this season and in nearly 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 14 conference games
2nd - UC Irvine has played just 24 games this season, 2nd-fewest in the country (UC Davis - 22). The fewest games played in a UCI season was 25 in 1977-78. UCI had 6 scheduled games this year canceled. Their non-conference strength of schedule ranks 24th.

The 2021-22 Anteaters
· Collin Welp has earned Big West Player of the Week twice. He has four at UCI and both of UCI's in 2021-22. The first came November 29 featuring a double-double at Santa Clara 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. Welp was also 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. UCI's non-conference schedule rates as the 25th-toughest in the country. 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, 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 'Eaters have seen six of their games this season postponed or canceled. As a result, they have played the second-fewest games in the country at 24. The least amount of games the Anteaters have played in any season is 25 back in 1977-78 going 8-17. UCI is still in line to win over 60% of their games which would be for a fifth straight season.
· UC Irvine is set to record its 10th straight winning season and 34th winning season in 57 years of UCI basketball.
· UCI games were televised four times with UCI winning three vs. LBSU and Hawai'i and at CSUB, and losing at LBSU.
· 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.
· Will Davis II returns to the G-League after being claimed by the South Bay Lakers in late December. The Anteater alum joins his seventh G-League team since becoming a pro in 2015 played with the Lakers, the College Park Skyhawks, and Raptors 905 this season. He also played for the U.S. World Cup Qualifying Team in November posting four points, four rebounds, and two assists in his one game. Other 'Eaters 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
Preseason Thoughts from Head Coach Russell Turner
· "We're excited for the opportunity to play this season and especially for the opportunity to play again in front of fans because college basketball is so much about that, being a part of your community. I am hoping we will generate a lot of interest from our campus community to be a part of games because that is such a fun part of college basketball."
· "I think we have a good team, a team that should continue to improve throughout the season, and have a chance to be really good at the end of the year. We have real talent on this team, we have a bunch of guys who care, and we have chance to be good. We have a long way to go but we are excited about the opportunity." 
· "We have a young group of talented perimeter players. I am excited about that group and now we have to figure out how that group is going to best fit together. And how that group is going to assert themselves against high quality opposition early in the year. We've got a lot of work to do but I think they are up for the challenge."
· "The front court group we know starts with Collin, since he's such a proven commodity. We know we have to replace Brad Greene, which is no easy replacement. Brad Greene had such an incredible impact during his time at UC Irvine. But we do have depth and talent at the center position. We will have to see how that unfolds because we have a lot of guys who will be competing for a start."