Big West release

IRVINE, Calif. – Three UC Irvine men's basketball players earned All-Big West honors, the conference office announced Monday.

Junior guard DJ Davis headlines the trio of Anteaters, earning All-Big West First Team honors. Dawson Baker earned his third career postseason award as he was named to the All-Big West Second Team. To round out the awards, Pierre Crockrell II landed a spot on the honorable mention squad.
 
Davis's first team selection is the first postseason honor of the guard's career. The junior leads the Big West in free throw percentage (.882) and three-point field goals per game (2.5). He ranks eighth in scoring (15.2) while sitting 25^th nationally in free throw percentage.

Davis has cemented his name in the UCI record books, currently 12^th all-time in career made three-pointers (138). He was named Big West Player of the Week for the first time is his career on November 14, 2022, after a dominating performance at then ranked No. 21/21 Oregon where he set previous career best numbers. The guard has had seven 20-point games and has scored a three-pointer in 29 of his 31 games played.

Baker, the 2021 Big West Freshman of the Year and 2022 All Big West Honorable Mention team, leads the team in scoring with a 15.4 average. He posted a career-high 33 points against UC San Diego and has recorded double-digit points on 30 occasions this season. With 492 points so far this season, Baker is having the highest scoring season for a UCI player in seven years and is 28 points away from becoming the 32^nd Anteater to score 1,000 points in their career. The junior is fifth in the Big West in field goal percentage (0.470) while sitting seventh in both scoring (15.4) and free throw percentage (0.802).
 
In his first season in the league, transfer Pierre Crockrell II was named as an all-conference honorable selection. The senior was the only Anteater to have double-digit assists in a game this season, posting four. Crockrell II put up a double-double at (10 points, 10 assists) at Long Beach State on Feb. 4 and has reset his career best in assists four times during the 2022-23 campaign. The guard leads the conference in total assists (163), assists per game (5.1), and assist-turnover ratio (2.5). He ranks 24^th, 38^th, and 39^th in the same categories, respectively. Crockrell II is the first 'Eater to average over five assists in a season in over 16 years.
 
UCI was named the Big West regular season co-champions, earning the No. 1 seed at the 2023 Big West Championships and will play the winner of No. 8 CSU Bakersfield/No. 9 CSUN in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 9 at 12 p.m.