UC Irvine at No. 1 Oregon
Wednesday, Mar. 15 | 8:00 p.m. PT
Matthew Knight Arena | Eugene, Ore.
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The 'Eaters hit the road to Eugene for the second time this season facing No.1 seeded Oregon in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday, March 15th with an 8 p.m. start.

ABOUT THE DUCKS
> Oregon holds a 19-14 record on the season and finished conference play 12-8
> The Ducks defeated Washington State, 75-70 in the Pac-12 quarterfinals contest before falling to UCLA , 75-56,  in the conference semifinals
> UO finished the Pac-12 slate with three straight wins (Oregon State, California and Stanford)
> The Ducks played in the NIT last season,  earning the first round victory over Utah State, 83-72
> Each of Oregon's wins have seen their opponents score less than 70 points
> Jermaine Cousinard is one of Oregon's leading scorers, averaging 12.8 points per game on 79-198 shooting (0.399)
> Will Richardson is the only Duck to have started and played in all 33 games for Oregon and is putting up 12.2 points a game at a 0.429 clip (142-331)
>Richardson recorded the first triple-double for Oregon in 20 years on Dec. 10 to earn the weekly Pac-12 award on Dec. 12
> N'Faly Dante is an offensive and defensive weapon for UO,  leading them in both scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounds (8.4)
> Richardson entered the season on the preseason All-Pac 12 first team for the third consecutive season
> Rivaldo Soares and Quincy Guerrier are the only returners from last season to play in all 35 games (2021-22)

UC IRVINE POSTSEASON HISTORY IN THE NIT
UC Irvine clinched their seventh postseason appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) after winning the regular season Big West title. The Anteaters hold a 2-6 record in the tournament. This is UCI's first appearance in the NIT since 2017.
 
FIRST REGULAR SEASON RANKED WIN FOR COACH
Head Coach Russell Turner earned his first regular season ranked win over the then No. 21/21 Oregon. Turner's first ranked win came against Kansas State in the first round of the 2019 NCAA March Madness tournament.
 
SETTLED THE SCORE
After a heartbreaking loss to Oregon in the second round of the NCAA March Madness tournament in 2019, UC Irvine came back with a vengeance to defeat the then nationally ranked Ducks on their home court by the largest margin of victory over Oregon in series history (13 points), 69-56.

DEFENSE REIGNED SUPREME IN EUGENE ON NOV. 11
The UC Irvine forced 15 Oregon turnovers and were able to convert 25 points off of them. UCI held then No. 21 Oregon to 17-52 (0.327) shooting from the floor including going 4-21 (0.190) from three-point defense. DJ Davis paced the 'Eaters with 24 points on a then career best 8-17 shooting from the field with six makes from distance.
 
HOT SHOOTING FROM THREE-POINT DISTANCE
In the 83-80 loss to Cal State Fullerton in the Big West championships semifinal match-up, both squads were hot from behind the arc with UCI shooting at a 0.474 clip (9-19) and Cal St. Fullerton at a 0.588 clip (10-17). The 'Eaters went 6-10 from three-point range in the first half against the Titans.
 
DOUBLE-HEADED SNAKE
Dawson Baker and DJ Davis are averaging 15.3 and 15.2 points this season, respectively. The last time UCI had two or more players averaging over 15-points a game was in the 2010-11 season when Darren Moore averaged 17.0 and Eric Wise put up 16.3 a game.
 
JOINED THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
In his 22-point performance against the Titans on Mar. 10, Dawson Baker became the 32nd Anteater to hit the 1,000-point milestone. Entering Wednesday, the guard has 1,001 career tallies.
 
CLIMBING THE SINGLE SEASON RANKS
Pierre Crockrell II's 170 assists in 2022-23 are good for fifth all-time in a single season beating out assistant coach Alex Young who now holds the sixth spot with 161. The guard is one dime away from catching fourth (171).
 
IN THE BOOK! CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 146 made three-pointers in his career, junior DJ Davis sits 11th all-time for made triples in a career. Davis is now six makes from catching Daman Starring (2010-13) for 10th with 152 threes.
 
BIG WEST REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
With their 52-44 win over CSU Bakersfield on Mar. 4, UC Irvine was able to clinch a share of the Big West regular season title, sharing the other piece with UC Santa Barbara. The victory resulted in UCI's sixth regular season title under Head Coach Russell Turner and the first since the 2019-20 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 42nd nationally in bench points per game (24.71).
 
HIGHLY EFFICIENT SHOOTING
UCI has shot over a 0.500 clip in 11 contests this season with seven of them being conference games (CSU Bakersfield—0.550, UC Davis—0.561, Long Beach St.—0.507, CSUN—0.528 and 0.500, and UC Riverside—0.567 and 0.558). The Anteaters rank 62nd nationally in effective field goal percentage.
 
PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 366 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 1,184, Opp. 818). The Anteaters average 34.82 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in the paint in six conference contests (CSUN– 40, UC Santa Barbara– 40, Hawai'i– 44, UC San Diego—44, Long Beach St.—42, and UC San Diego—40).
 
MR. CONSISTENT
After his performance against CSU Bakersfield on Mar. 4, Dawson Baker saw his consecutive games scoring in double figures streak snapped after only posting seven points in  30 minutes. Baker has recorded 31 double digit scoring games this season and has posted 53 in his career thus far. After reaching the 600-career point mark against Fresno State on Dec. 3, 700-mark against Cal St. Fullerton on Jan. 11, and 800-mark at UC San Diego on Feb. 2, the guard passed the 900-mark at Cal Poly on Feb. 20. The junior surpassed 400 tallies on the season against the Aggies on Feb. 18 became the 32nd Anteater to reach the 1,000-point milestone with his 22-point performance against Cal State Fullerton on Mar. 10. Baker is averaging 15.3 points a game, 16.6 in league play.
 
3J DAVIS
A consistent force behind the arc, DJ Davis leads the team and league in three-point shooting making 85 of his 212 attempts from deep. Davis is a prolific shooter at the free throw line as well, ranking first in the Big West and 25th nationally for his 102-116 shooting at the stripe (0.879). With 501 tallies on the season, Davis surpassed the 900-career point mark with his 26-point performance at UC Riverside on Mar. 2 after eclipsing the 800-mark just two weeks prior at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 15.
 
DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II tied his career high 11 assists in the loss to UC San Diego on Feb. 23 for the 'Eaters fourth 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 5.0 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 on Jan. 19. The guard nationally ranks 23rd in total assists, 40th in assist-turnover ratio at a 2.5 mark, and 41st in assists per game. The Anteaters are 15-2 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 195 boards on the season to average 6.1 a game. Tillis has tallied 10 double-digit scoring and three double-figure rebounding efforts in 32 games.
 
MR. POSTMAN
Bent Leuchten, who had missed eight games due to injury, made his return to the lineup against Cal Poly on Feb. 9. Leuchten hit the game-winning three-pointer with 1:37 remaining to lift the Anteaters to the 55-54 victory. The center is one of the teams leaders off the glass, averaging 5.7 rebounds a game in 25 contests played. Leucthen has posted three double-figure scoring games since his return, with the latest double-digit effort coming at UC Riverside.
 
NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 5. The 'Eaters are the highest ranked Big West team and only one within the top-100 sitting at 96. UC Santa Barbara sits at 100.
 
KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2245 eligible players, Pierre Crockrell II is 19th in assist rate and DJ Davis is 37th in free throw percentage. Out of 363 teams, UC Irvine ranks two-point percentage defense, eighth in bench minutes, 13th in effective field goal defense, and 16th in three-point percentage offense.
 
LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings. DJ Davis leads the league in free throw percentage (0.879) and three-point field goals per game (2.6) while sitting eighth in scoring (15.2). Pierre Crockrell II tops the Big West in assist/turnover ratio (2.5) and is second in assists (5.0).  Dawson Baker is fifth in field goal percentage (0.468), seventh in free throw percentage (0.794), and seventh in scoring (15.3). Devin Tillis ranks ninth in the league in boards, averaging 6.1 while Dean Keeler lands ninth in blocks (0.8).
 
NATIONAL STATISTICS 03.14.23
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in the following categories: scoring margin (37th, 8.6), field goal percentage (37th, 0.472), field goal percentage defense (12th, 0.396), and three-point field goal percentage (15th, 0.384).