IRVINE, Calif. -- The Anteaters are on their second of three consecutive road trips, stopping first at Duquesne (Nov. 29) before heading over to Utah State (Dec. 2).

UC Irvine at Utah State
Saturday, Dec. 2 | 7:00 p.m. MT (6:00 p.m. PT)
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum | Logan, Utah
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (Mountain West Network) | Tickets | Notes

ABOUT UTAH STATE
> Utah State holds a 6-1  record entering the contest, picking up wins against South Dakota Mines, Southern Utah, Marshall, Akron, Stephen F. Austin, and Saint Louis
> The Aggies last played on Tuesday where they picked up the road win at SLU, 81-76
> USU was crowned the Cayman Island Classic champions last week after winning three straight games on the island
> Utah State went 26-9 overall in 2022-23 and 13-5 in Mountain West play
> The Aggies defeated New Mexico and Boise State en route to the Mountain West final where they fell to the eventual NCAA runner-ups San Diego State, 62-57
> USU earned an at-large bid to the NCAA March Madness but dropped 76-65 to Missouri in the first round
> The 2023-24 Utah State team ranks top-15 nationally in defensive field goal percentage (8th, 0.527), assists per game (9th, 19.3), and defensive 3-point field goal percentage (11th)
> Great Osobor leads all Aggies in scoring and rebounds with 147 total points and 73 rebounds, averaging 21.0 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game
> Osobor is one of five players in Division I who are averaging over 20 points per game and 10 rebounds per game
> Mason Falslev ranks second on USU in scoring with his 11.1 points per game behind a 0.635 shooting clip (33-52)
> Darius Brown II is the Aggies top distributor, dishing out 54 assists in seven games
> Brown II ranks third in the nation in assists per game (7.7) and fourth in assist-turnover ratio (6.75)
> Isaac Johnson rounds out the four Aggies who have started and played in all seven games for Utah State
> Utah State was picked ninth in the Mountain West Preseason Poll
> The Aggies are currently tied for third in the MW standings with New Mexico and San Diego State
 

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UC Irvine at Duquesne
Wednesday, Nov. 29 | 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT)
UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Pittsburgh, Pa.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | Notes

ABOUT DUQUESNE
> Duquesne holds a 4-2  record entering the contest, picking up wins against Cleveland State, College of Charleston, Stony Brook, and Rider
> The Dukes last played one week ago where they lost at Nebraska, 89-79, in the final game of the Cornhusker Classic
> Duquesne went 20-13 overall in 2022-23 and 10-8 in Atlantic 10 play
> After falling to La Salle in the A10 second round, the Dukes were invited to the CBI where they narrowly fell to Southern Utah in the quarterfinals
> Dae Dae Grant leads the scoring effort for Duquesne with 125 total points and 20.8 points per game
> Grant has made the most trips to the free throw line of any Duke this season where he is shooting at a 0.921 clip (35-38)
> Jimmy Clark III is averaging 17.3 points per game, second best mark on the team
> Kareem Rozier is the third Duke to average double digit scoring, 10.7
> Clark III and Rozier are the top distributors on the team with 23 and 21 assists, respectively
> Fousseyni Drame leads the team off the glass with 7.7 rebounds per game (46 total)
> Duquesne has used the same starting five in all six of their contests
> The Dukes are 20th in the nation in blocks per game (5.7)
> Duquesne was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10
> Grant was named to the Preseason All-A10 First Team while Clark II was named to both the Preseason All-A10 Second Team and Preseason All-A10 Defensive Team

BALL DAWGS CHAMPS
In their trip to Henderson, UC Irvine walked away with three wins against quality opponents in Pepperdine, Toledo, and Rice. The Anteaters were one of three teams who went undefeated in the MTE (Indiana State and New Mexico).

WWWWWWINNING WAYS
Recording their sixth straight win on Nov. 24 with their 83-68 victory over Rice, UC Irvine now holds the nation's fourth longest active win streak.

MOVIN' ON UP!
Heading into Wednesday night's competition, UC Irvine ranks 64th in KenPom, the school's highest ranking ever. The Anteaters lowest ranking was 66 back in the 2018-19 season after defeating Kansas State, 70-64, in the first round of the NCAA March Madness tournament.

In the weekly CollegeInsider Mid-Major Poll, UC Irvine moved up to sixth with 570 points behind their 6-1 record. Last week, the Anteaters landed at the 12th spot prior to their three wins at the Ball Dawgs Classic. Additionally, UCI is ranked 21st in Mid-Major Madness's "The Other Top-25" Poll.

FIVE
After seven games played, there are five players averaging double figure scoring. Redshirt senior Justin Hohn leads the effort with 12.7 points per game and is followed by redshirt junior Devin Tillis (11.7), freshman Derin Saran (11.0), senior Andre Henry (10.7), and junior Bent Leuchten (10.0).

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...
UC Irvine is on their second of three straight road trips where they will face Duquesne (Wed. Nov. 29) and Utah State (Sat. Dec. 2). The 'Eaters will the head down for a non-conference competition with national runner-up, San Diego State.

LAST TIME VS. DUQUESNE
UC Irvine was down in the first half and couldn't recover in a 76-54 loss to Duquesne in a neutral site game. UCI struggled from long-distance with a season-low four threes (4-16) and only made it to the line six times, hitting four, also a season low. UCI shot 41.8% from the field (23-55). The Anteaters, one of the nation's best defensive teams, gave up a season-high 76 points, while scoring the second fewest points of the year.

BIG SECOND HALF PROPELS UC IRVINE PAST RICE
A second half offensive surge from the Anteaters pushed them ahead of Rice, 83-68, in the final game of the Ball Dawgs Classic. Redshirt senior Justin Hohn led the scoring for UC Irvine with his 18 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor, five makes from the free throw line, and a career best nine rebounds. Guard Derin Saran totaled 16 points for his fifth double digit scoring game of the season.

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 19th nationally in bench points per game (34.00).

HIGHLY EFFICIENT SHOOTING
UCI has shot over a 0.500 clip in five contests this season (New Mexico State—0.526, Occidental—0.615, Pepperdine---0.517, Toledo---0.500, and Rice---0.517). The Anteaters rank 50th nationally in effective field goal percentage (0.555).

PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 114 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 296, Opp. 182). The Anteaters average 42.3 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in three games so far (Occidental-- 68, Pepperdine--48, and Rice---44).

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
UC Irvine finds themselves among the best in another specialty statistical category, landing 44th in the nation in fast break points with 15.29 points per game. 

DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II has led the Anteaters in six contests this season in assists with 37. The fifth year guard is averaging 5.3 assists per game and earned his 500th career dime in the win over New Mexico State on Nov. 11. Crockrell II nationally ranks 21st in total assists and 50th in assists per game while he sits atop the Big West in both categories. The Anteaters are 4-1 when Crockrell II dishes out five or more dimes in a game and were 15-3 in 2022-23 when he hit the same mark.

THIS JUST-IN!
Justin Hohn is a UC Irvine squad leader with 89 total points and 12.7 points per game after his first career 20-point game at No. 16/20 USC with his 25 point outing. The redshirt senior has 22 double figure scoring games in his career, the most of any player on the 2023-24 Anteater squad. 

SEEING DOUBLE
Devin Tillis notched the Anteaters first double-double of the season on Saturday night (Nov. 11) with an 18 point and 10 rebound showing. In the effort, the redshirt junior set a career best in points scored. Tillis recorded three double-double efforts last season and earned the program's first since Mar. 15, 2023 which was the one he set in the NIT First Round match-up with Oregon. The forward has recorded double-figure scoring in three games and double figure rebounding in two games played this season to lead UCI with 44 rebounds, 6.3 per game. 

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2295 eligible players, Devin Tillis is 9th in two-point percentage (0.826) and Pierre Crockrell II is 20th in assist rate (38.3).  Out of 363 teams, UC Irvine ranks 9th in bench minutes (43.4), 16th in steal percentage offense (6.1), 31st in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.6), 46th in effective field goal percentage defense (44.6), and 48th in two-point percentage defense (44.5).

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: rebounds per game (9th, 6.3--Tillis), free throw percentage (8th, 0.818--Tillis), assists per game (2nd, 5.3--Crockrell II), assist-turnover ratio (4th, 2.5-- Crockrell II), blocks per game (9th, 1.0--Keeler), and steals per game (7th, 1.7-- Henry).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 11.27.22
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in the following categories: assists per game (27th, 17.9), field goal percentage (28th, 0.502), scoring margin (36th, 16.6), and assist-turnover ratio (48th, 1.49).