UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara
Wednesday, Feb. 15 | 7:00 p.m. PT
The Thunderdome | Santa Barbara, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | Notes

UC Davis vs. UC Irvine
Saturday, Feb. 18 | 1:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (Spectrum SportsNet) | Tickets | UC Irvine Notes | UC Davis Notes

UC Irvine will close out the season series with both UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday Feb. 15 in Santa Barbara before returning home to host UC Davis on Saturday Feb. 18 for a 1 p.m. start.

Join us for our virtual watch party on Wednesday Feb. 15 and join the fellow Anteater community to cheer on the Anteaters as they face UC Santa Barbara. Fans can register here.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
> UC Santa Barbara holds a 20-4 record on the season and 11-2 in conference
> The Gauchos were handed their first conference loss on Jan. 14 by UC Riverside to snap UCSB's nine game win streak. CSUN handed UC Santa Barbara their second conference loss on Feb. 4 in Northridge
> Ajay Mitchell is UC Santa Barbara's leading scorer, averaging 15.9 points a game on 133-261 shooting (0.510)
> 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
> The sophomore picked up his second weekly honor on Feb. 13 after averaging 20.5 points, 6.0 assists, and 1.5 steals in two wins
> Andre Kelly leads the Gauchos off the glass, tallying 6.5 rebounds a game
> Miles Norris is an offensive and defensive weapon for UCSB, recording 13.8 points per games and 6.3 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 California transfer Kelly were both named to the Big West All-Preseason team

ABOUT THE AGGIES
> UC Davis is currently 15-11 on the season with a 8-6 record in Big West play
> The Aggies recently dropped contests to UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara
> UC Davis beat CSUN, 73-62, on Thursday night
> Three of UC Davis's five starters are in the top-25 scoring average leaders, two of them in the top-10
> Elijah Pepper is UC Davis's leading scorer, averaging 21.7 points per game on 185-393 (0.471) shooting
> 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 5.7 boards over 25 games
> Ty Johnson is strong both offensively and defensively, averaging 15.5 points a game along with 5.5 boards
> 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

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 league tournament.
 
SHARP SHOOTERS
Both UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara rank within the top-40 nationally in field goal percentage, 38th and 8th respectively. Both squads are shooting over a 0.475 clip from the field.
 
CLOSE CALL
In 101 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.
 
LIVING UP TO THE HYPE—OFFENSIVE CLASH
In the first meeting between the two programs this season, there were 11 total lead changes as UC Irvine was edged 73-65 by UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 16. Dawson Baker led the Anteaters with 17 points on 6-13 shooting from the floor and 3-7 from long range. Dean Keeler had a career night, going 6-8 from the floor and 1-1 from the line for 13 points. The Gauchos shot at a 0.558 clip (29-52), the highest mark against the Anteaters this season.
 
BROUGHT HOME THE WIN ON HOMECOMING
The high octane UC Irvine offense shot 0.568 (34-60) from the floor and 0.545 (6-11) beyond the arc in the homecoming win over UC Riverside. Dawson Baker poured in 23 points on 9-14 shooting, a career best made field goals. DJ Davis followed with 18 points, knocking down 6-11 from the field, including 4-5 from long distance. Bent Leuchten and Justin Hohn each recorded 10 points, rounding out the double figure scorers for UCI. Leuchten had four rebounds while Hohn swiped to steals.
 
80+ POINTS
UC Irvine defeated UC Riverside, 83-64, on Saturday Feb. 11. The Anteaters have posted 80+ point efforts over four conference opponents thus far this season (UC Davis on 1/5, Long Beach St. on 1/7, CSUN on 1/28, Long Beach St. on 2/4, UC Riverside on 2/11).
 
IN THE BOOK! CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 111 made three-pointers in his career, junior DJ Davis sits 17th all-time for made triples in a career. Davis is now one make from catching Eyassu Worku (2016-20) for 16th with 122 triples.
 
IN STATE BEASTS
According to College Basketball Reference on Feb. 8, UCI sits in the top seven schools who have the most points per game scored by in-state players (49.7). The other teams are UNI (69.5), Youngstown State (59.8), Eastern Michigan (56.0), Northern Colorado (54.4), Georgia State (50.9), and Kennesaw State (45.0).
 
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 28th nationally in bench points per game (26.28).
 
HIGHLY EFFICIENT SHOOTING
UCI has shot over a 0.500 clip in five of their conference contests (CSU Bakersfield—0.550, UC Davis—0.561, Long Beach St.—0.507, CSUN—0.528, and UC Riverside—0.567). The Anteaters  rank 58th nationally in effective field goal percentage.
 
PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 282 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 912, Opp. 630). The Anteaters average 36.48 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in the paint in five conference contests (CSUN– 40, UC Santa Barbara– 40, Hawai'i– 44, UC San Diego—44, and Long Beach St.—42).
 
MR. CONSISTENT
After his performance against UC Riverside, Dawson Baker set a new streak of 20 consecutive games scoring in double figures. Baker has recorded 24 double digit scoring games this season and has posted 46 in his career thus far. After reaching the 600-career point mark against Fresno State on Dec. 3 and the 700-point mark against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 11, the guard made his 800th career point on his driving lay-up with 1:56 remaining in the contest at UC San Diego on Feb. 2. The junior surpassed 300 tallies on the season against CSUN on Jan. 28. Baker is averaging 15.1 points a game, 16.5 in league play.
 
3J DAVIS
A consistent force behind the arc, DJ Davis leads the team and league in three-point shooting making 60 of his 150 attempts from deep. Davis is a prolific shooter at the free throw line as well, ranking second in the Big West and 33rd nationally for his 69-79 shooting at the stripe (0.873). With 353 tallies on the season, Davis surpassed the 700 career point mark with his 18-point performance against Hawai'i and is nine marks away from 800 career points.
 
DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II set a new career high 11 assists in the win over UC Riverside for the 'Eaters third double-digit assist game of the season. Crockrell II put up his first double-double of the season (10 points, 10 assists) at Long Beach State. The senior is averaging 5.2 assists per game after hitting his 100th assist on the season at UC San Diego on Feb. 2 and earned his 400th career dime in the win over the Rainbow Warriors. The guard ranks 30th nationally in assist-turnover ratio at a 2.7 mark, 36th in assists per game, and 38th in total assists. The Anteaters are 12-1 when Crockrell II dishes out five or more dimes in a game.
 
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.) on Jan. 11 and the second at CSUN (10 pts., 11 reb.) on Jan. 14. The redshirt sophomore has 149 boards on the season to average 6.0 a game. Tillis has tallied nine double-digit scoring efforts in 25 games.
 
WELCOME BACK TO THE FLOOR, BENT
Bent Leuchten, who had missed the previous eight games due to injury, made his return to the lineup against Cal Poly. Leuchten hit the game-winning three-pointer with 1:37 remaining to lift the Anteaters to the 55-54 victory. The center grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and poured in nine points in his 18 minutes on the court. Leuchten is averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 boards in five conference contests.
 
KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2237 eligible players, Pierre Crockrell II is ninth in assist rate and DJ Davis is 48th in free throw percentage. Out of 363 teams, UC Irvine ranks 15th in bench minutes, 18th in two-point percentage defense, 18th in three-point percentage offense, and 21st in effective field goal defense.
 
NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 5. The 'Eaters are the highest ranked Big West team within the top-100 sitting at 90 while UC Santa Barbara sits at 92.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings. DJ Davis is second in the league in three-point field goals per game (2.4) and free throw percentage (0.873) while sitting 10th in scoring (14.1). Pierre Crockrell II tops the Big West in assist/turnover ratio (2.7) and assists (5.2).  Dawson Baker is fourth in field goal percentage (0.482) and seventh in scoring (15.1). Bent Leuchten and Devin Tillis rank ninth and tenth in the league in boards, 6.1 and 6.0, respectively.
 
NATIONAL STATISTICS 02.14.23
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in the following categories: scoring margin (34th, 10.0), field goal percentage (38th, 0.476), field goal percentage defense (16th, 0.397) and three-point field goal percentage (14th, 0.385).