UC Irvine at UC Davis
Thursday, Jan. 5 | 6:00 p.m. PT
University Credit Union Center | Davis, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | Notes

Long Beach State vs. UC Irvine
Saturday, Jan. 7 | 6:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | UC Irvine Notes | Long Beach State Notes

UC Irvine continues their road stretch at UC Davis on Thursday Jan. 5 before hosting Long Beach State on Saturday Jan. 7 at the Bren Events Center for Salute to Heroes Night.

ABOUT THE AGGIES
> UC Davis has started the season 7-6, opening Big West play with a 74-66 loss at Hawaii
> The Aggies had a week off after receiving the second bye
> Four of UC Davis's five starters are in the top-25 scoring average leaders in the Big West
> Elijah Pepper is UC Davis's leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game on 79-184 shooting (0.429)
> Pepper was named the Big West Player of the Week on Dec. 19 for his two consecutive 20-point efforts
> Christian Anigwe is a team leader in rebounds, grabbing an average of 5.5 boards over 13 games
> UC Davis was picked to finish sixth in the Big West preseason media poll
> Pepper was named to the preseason All-Big West team after being selected to the Big West Second Team following the 2021-22 season

ABOUT THE BEACH
> Long Beach has started the season 6-8, opening Big West play with an overtime loss to UC San Diego and buzzer beater shot from UC Riverside
> The Beach will look to earn their first conference victory when they face CSUN on Jan. 5
> Senior Joel Murray is Long Beach State's leading scorer, averaging 16.0 points per game on 93-214 shooting (0.435)
> Jadon Jones, the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Year, has 15 steals and seven blocks so far this season despite missing four games earlier this year
> Jones also leads the Beach in three-point shooting at a 0.346 clip (18-52)
> Lassina Traore and Aboubacar Traore have combined for 11 double-doubles so far this season, over 30% of the double-doubles of the Big West this season
> Long Beach was picked to finish third in the Big West preseason media poll
> Murray was named to the preseason All-Big West team after being selected to the Big West First Team and All-District honoree following the 2021-22 season
 
CAREER MILESTONE REACHED
Russ Turner earned his career milestone 250th win at CSU Bakersfield, with all wins coming from his 13 years at UC Irvine. Out of 365 active head coaches in Division I, there are only 100 who have hit this career milestone with 13 of them completing this feat at one institution.
 
RECORD SETTERS
UC Irvine broke a 28-year old school record in free throw attempts in the 79-75 victory over CSU Bakersfield, shooting 51 from the line (30 made). The previous record of 49 (33 made) was set on January 27, 1994 against rival Long Beach State. Dawson Baker (15 att.), DJ Davis (8 att.), Dean Keeler (4 att.), Bent Leuchten (4 made, 8 att.), and Devin Tillis (6 made, 8 att.) all set new career bests at the line.
 
BUZZER BEATER
With 2.6 seconds left in the first half, Justin Hohn would receive the ball from an inbound pass and heave it at half court, making the shot as time expired. Hohn's buzzer beater shot would prove to be the 'Eaters momentum shift in the contest.
 
ITS'S BEEN A WHILE
UC Irvine and UC Davis have not met with each other since the 2020 season. The back to back schedule contests in the 2021 season were canceled due to COVID-19 as well as the two meeting in the 2022 season.
 
EXTRA, EXTRA
Five games between the Aggies and the Anteaters have gone into extra time. Of those five games, three of them went into double overtime periods.
 
CLOSE CALL
In 45 meetings between the two programs, 33% of them have been decided by three-points or fewer with seven games decided by three points, five by two points, and three by one point.
 
BATTLE AT THE BOARDS
UC Irvine and UC Davis are the top two teams in the Big West in rebounding margin (7.7, 7.6) and the Aggies are the league leaders in rebounds per game (40.9).
 
IN STATE BEASTS
According to College Basketball Reference, UCI sits in the top seven schools who have the most points per game scored by in state players (49.7 ppg). The other teams are UNI, Youngstown State, Georgia State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Colorado,  and TCU.
 
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 20th nationally in bench points per game (30.31).
 
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
UC Irvine finds themselves among the best in another specialty statistical category, landing 37th in the nation in fast break points, averaging 14.23. The Anteaters join UC Davis (28th) and Long Beach State (21st) who are also top-50 nationally.
 
PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 158 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 484, Opp. 326). The Anteaters average 37.2 points in the paint per game.
 
DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING STAR
After his performance against Harvard, Dawson Baker sets a new streak of nine consecutive games scoring in double figures. Baker has recorded 12 double digit scoring games this season and has posted 34 in his career thus far.
 
600 POINTS
DJ Davis surpassed the career marker at Santa Clara with his first made free throw of the contest. Teammate and fellow junior Dawson Baker  hit the same career mark back against Fresno State. Pierre Crockrell II is not far behind needing 11 more points to reach this feat.
 
NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 5. The 'Eaters are the highest ranked and one of two Big West team within the top-100 sitting at 90 with UC Santa Barbara locking in the second position at 91.
 
KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2259 eligible players, Bent Leuchten is 3rd in defensive rebound percentage and Pierre Crockrell II is 48th in assist rate. Out of 363 teams, UC Irvine ranks 8th in three-point percentage offense and 12th in bench minutes.
 
LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: scoring (10th--Baker, 13.7), field goal percentage (4th--Baker, 0.475), three-point field goals per game (2nd--Davis, 2.5), free throw percentage (4th--Davis, 0.854), rebounds (7th--Leuchten, 6.6), assists (2nd--Crockrell II, 4.5), assist-TO ratio (1st--Crockrell II, 1.9), and blocks (6th--Keeler, 1.0, 9th--Leuchten, 0.9).
 
NATIONAL STATISTICS 01.04.23
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in the following categories: scoring margin (48th, 11.8) rebounds per game (38th, 39.5), rebound margin (20th, 7.7), field goal percentage defense (41st, 0.396), and three-point field goal percentage (7th, 0.405).