UC Santa Barbara vs. UC Irvine
Monday, Jan. 16 | 6:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | UC Irvine Notes | UC Santa Barbara Notes

Hawai'i vs. UC Irvine
Thursday, Jan. 19 | 7:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | UC Irvine Notes | Hawai'i Notes

UC Irvine plays two consecutive games on their home court, first facing UC Santa Barbara on Monday Jan. 16 before the Rainbow Warriors from Hawai'i make the trip to the main land for a Thursday (Jan. 19) tilt.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
> UC Santa Barbara holds a 13-3 record on the season, 4-1 in conference
> The Gauchos were handed their first conference loss on Jan. 14 by UC Riverside snapping UCSB's nine game win streak as well as their unbeaten record against the Highlanders inside the Thunderdome
> UC Santa Barbara's four conference wins all came on the road
> Ajay Mitchell is UCSB's leading scorer, averaging 15.9 points per game on 86-170 shooting (0.506)
> Mitchell was named the Big West Player of the Week on Jan. 2 after averaging 23.5 ppg and 4,5 assists per game in two conference wins while shooting at a 0.593 clip and a perfect 1.000 at the charity stripe
> Andre Kelly leads the Gauchos off the glass, tallying 6.4 rebounds a game
> Miles Norris is an offensive and defensive weapon for UCSB recording 12.9 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game
> UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish first in the Big West preseason media poll with nine first place votes
> Mitchell, the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year and Cal transfer Kelly were both named to the Big West All-Preseason team
 
ABOUT THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
> Hawai'i holds a 14-4 record on the season, 5-1 in conference
> The Rainbow Warriors were 3-0 in conference play before their trip to Fullerton where they were defeated 79-72 in overtime, but were able to pick up a win against Long Beach State on Jan. 14 in Honolulu
> Hawai'i has won nine on their last 10 contests where they picked up a 58-51 victory over CSUN
> Noel Campbell is UH's leading scorer, averaging 14.5 points per game on 78-182 shooting (0.429)
> Kamaka Hepa and Bernardo da Silva lead the Rainbow Warriors off the glass with 7.1 and 7.0 rebounds per game, respectively
> JoVon McClanahan was named the Big West Player of the Week on Dec. 26 after helping UH to win the Diamond Head Classic with three wins
> The junior guard averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the tournament and nailed the game-winning three-pointer with one second remaining to win the title game
> Hawai'i was picked to finish second in the Big West preseason media poll with one first place vote
> Coleman was named to the six-player preseason all-Big West team

GOING BACK TO CALI
Due to COVID-19 and other scheduling decisions, only one of the last five games between UC Irvine and Hawai'i have been played at the Bren Events Center. This contest will be the second consecutive game played in Irvine.
 
TOP DOGS: OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE
Thursday's game will be a battle between the top scoring offense (UC Irvine, 77.3) and the top scoring defense (Hawai'i, 60.3) in the Big West. UH ranks fourth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense while UCI posts a 0.401 shooting clip from three-point range, good for seventh in the nation.
 
KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM
Dominating defense by the Anteaters earned them the 77-52 victory over Hawai'i in their last meeting. UCI held the Rainbow Warriors to a season-low 52 points at a 0.327 clip from the floor (16-49) with only three made trey's (3-20, 0.150), ultimately handing them their third largest margin of defeat in a Big West game. On the offensive end, UC Irvine shot 25-57 (0.456) from the field and 23-24 from the free throw line (0.958). Dawson Baker was one of the 'Eaters double-digit performers along with Collin Welp who had the last double-double of 2022.
 
BIG MAN THROWING DOWN
Dean Keeler scored a career high 13 points in the 73-65 loss to UC Santa Barbara, the first double figure performance of the senior's career. Keeler also shot at a 0.750 clip from the floor (6-8) and a perfect 1-1 at the charity stripe. The guard's six makes and eight attempts are both new career shooting highs. In the contest, Keeler had five boards and one assist in a season high 22 minutes.
 
CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 104 made three-pointers in his career, junior DJ Davis is just nine makes away from catching Brett Lauer (2007-09) for 18th all-time.
 
TAKING A BRIEF BREAK
After playing four games in a nine day stretch, UC Irvine will pause game action after their contest against Hawai'i and will resume play on Wednesday Jan. 26 where the Anteaters will travel to Orange County foe Cal. State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
GRUDGE MATCH
The last time these two programs met was in the first round of the Big West tournament last season where the Gauchos prevailed 78-69. DJ Davis led the Anteaters with 21 points, his second straight 20+ point performance and second consecutive with four made three's. The guard shot 7-11 from the field, 4-5 behind the arc, and 3-3 at the charity stripe. Dawson Baker added 16 points in the loss.
 
CHAMPS VS. CHAMPS
Two perennial programs, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara continue to finish atop of the Big West standings and combine for two of the last three Big West Championship wins to advance to the NCAA tournament. UCI is 6-3 all-time against the Gauchos in the Big West tournament.
 
SHARP SHOOTERS
Both UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara rank within the top-40 nationally in field goal percentage, 35th and 24th respectively. Both squads are shooting over a 0.480 clip from the field.
 
CLOSE CALL
In 100 meetings between the two programs, 40 of them have been decided by five points or fewer with five games decided by five points, seven by four points, 13 by three points, nine by two points, and six by one point.
 
CONTINUING TO WRITE HISTORY
For the first time in program history, both the men's and women's programs started conference play 5-0. The men look to improve their streak to six and the women to eight in their contests against UC Santa Barbara.
 
UNBEATEN IN 2023
UCI is a combined 11-0 to open 2023 as both basketball programs are 4-0 and men's volleyball is 3-0. The Anteaters are just one of four schools nationally (Fairleigh Dickinson, Gonzaga, and Morgan State) that remain unbeaten in the new year across all competing sports.
 
WWWWWINNING WAYS
The Anteaters earned their fifth consecutive win after defeating CSUN 71-57 in Northridge. Five wins is the longest victory streak for UCI this season. The last time the 'Eaters started conference play 5-0 was in 2016-17 where UC Irvine opened league play 6-0.

IN STATE BEASTS
According to College Basketball Reference on Jan. 18, UCI sits in the top seven schools who have the most points per game scored by in-state players (48.5). The other teams are UNI (68.3), Youngstown State (58.2), Georgia State (54.3), Eastern Michigan (54.2), Northern Colorado (52.6), and Kent State (48.4).
 
HIGHLY EFFICIENT SHOOTING
UCI has shot over a 0.500 clip in four of their conference contests (CSU Bakersfield— 0.550, UC Davis—0.561, Long Beach St.—0.507, and CSUN—0.528). The Anteaters efficiency on the floor ranks them 55th nationally in effective field goal percentage (0.540)
 
ALL ABOUT THE ROTATION
The 'Eaters, who are a strong scoring team receive a lot of momentum from the second and third rotations. UCI is ranked 22nd nationally in bench points per game (28.67).
 
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
UC Irvine finds themselves among the best in another specialty statistical category, landing 50th in the nation in fast break points, averaging 13.11. UCI joins UC Davis (26th) and Long Beach State (17th) who are also top-50 nationally.
 
PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 202 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 670, Opp. 468). The Anteaters average 37.22 points in the paint per game.
 
MR. CONSISTENT
After his performance against UC Santa Barbara, Dawson Baker set a new streak of 13 consecutive games scoring in double figures. Baker has recorded 17 double digit scoring games this season and has posted 39 in his career thus far. After reaching the 600-career point mark against Fresno State on Dec. 3, the guard eclipsed the 700-point mark against Cal State Fullerton. Baker is averaging 14.3 points a game, 16.0 in league play.
 
3J DAVIS
A consistent force behind the arc, DJ Davis leads the team and league in three-point shooting making 43 of his 104 attempts from deep. Davis is a prolific shooter at the free throw line as well, ranking third in the Big West for his 49-57 shooting at the stripe (0.860). The guard is having his highest scoring season, only posting 227 points his freshman campaign. With 248 tallies on the season, Davis is 14 points away from 700 in his career.
 
DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II tied his career high 10 assists in the victory over The Beach for the 'Eaters first double-digit assist game of the season. The senior is averaging 4.8 assists per game, is 14 away from 100 assists on the season, and two away from 400 in his career. Crockrell II surpassed the 600-career point mark on his made free throw at CSUN.
 
SEEING DOUBLE
Almost a full calendar year after the Anteaters last double-double, Devin Tillis notched two consecutive and the first and second of his career. Tillis posted the first in the 70-65 win over Cal St. Fullerton (10 pts, 12 reb.) and the second at CSUN (10 pts., 11 reb.). The redshirt sophomore has 104 boards on the season to average 6.3 a game. Tillis has tallied six double-digit scoring efforts in 18 games.
 
NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 5. The 'Eaters are one the highest ranked Big West team within the top-100 sitting at 96. UC Santa Barbara sits at 89.
 
KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2257 eligible players, Pierre Crockrell II is 24th in assist rate. Out of 363 teams, UC Irvine ranks 10th in three-point percentage offense and 18th in bench minutes.
 
LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings. DJ Davis leads the league in three-point field goals per game (2.4) and is third in free throw percentage (0.860). Pierre Crockrell II tops the Big West in assists (4.8) and assist/turnover ratio (2.2).  Dawson Baker is fourth in field goal percentage (0.470) and ninth on scoring (14.3), while Dean Keeler is eighth in blocks (0.8). Devin Tillis (6.3) and Bent Leuchten (6.1) are ninth and tenth respectively in rebounds.
 
NATIONAL STATISTICS 01.18.23
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in the following categories: scoring margin (42nd, 10.3), rebound margin (42nd, 5.5), field goal percentage (36th, 0.478), and three-point field goal percentage (7th, 0.401).