IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine opens February in the central coast at Cal Poly (Feb. 1) before closing out the season series with Hawai'i inside the Bren Events Center on Saturday, Feb. 3.

Hawai'i at UC Irvine
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 7:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | Game Program | UC Irvine Game Notes | Hawai'i Game Notes

ABOUT HAWAI'I
> Hawai'i has gone 3-4 since the meeting with UC Irvine on Jan. 11 and enters the contest with a 12-10 overall record, 4-6 in the Big West
> The Rainbow Warriors are currently on a two game win streaks, picking up victories over Cal Poly (83-73) and Cal State Fullerton (76-68)
> Hawai'i has only won two league games on the road this season with the first at Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 4 (78-67) and then on Thursday night (Feb. 1) at the Titans place
> Noel Coleman paces the Hawai'i offense with 14.0 points per game (308) on 0.446 shooting from the floor (100-224)
> Coleman has picked the pocket of his opponents 205times this season, a team best
> In the January meeting between the Anteaters and the Rainbow Warriors, the UCI defense held Coleman to zero points in the game on 0-6 shooting from the floor and 0-4 from three-point distance
> Transfer Justin McKoy averages 10.7 points a game in 22 appearances
> Fifth year Bernardo Da Silva has posted 233 total points so far this season (10.6 ppg) to round out the double figure scoring for UH
> Da Silva and McKoy take command off the glass with 6.7 and 5.9 rebounds per game, respectively and are the only two Rainbow Warriors with over 125 rebounds this season (next closest is 73)
> Jovon McClanahan can be a threat on the offensive end with his 9.7 points per game with 0.391 shooting from the floor
> McClanahan has assisted on a team high 77 baskets (3.5 apg)
> Hawai'i was picked to finish third in the Big West Preseason Poll

AT THE TOP OF THE STANDINGS
After defeating Cal Poly on Thursday evening, UC Irvine holds the top spot in a tie for first place with a 9-1 Big West record. The Anteaters hold the advantage over UC San Diego who also hold a 9-1 league record. 

POTENT DEFENSE WITH THREATENING OFFENSE
UC Irvine heads into Saturday's contest at home against Hawai'i as the Big West's top scoring defense team limiting their opponents to 65.5 points per game. The Anteaters have now held six league foes to 65 points or fewer including the Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu. UCI also holds the top mark in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (0.395) while posting their own 0.468 clip on the offensive end, good for second in the Big West.

KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM
Dominating defense by the Anteaters earned them the 60-50 victory over Hawai'i in their last meeting. UCI held the Rainbow Warriors to a season-low 50 points scored against the Anteaters at a 0.368 clip from the floor (21-57) with only three made trey's (3-17, 0.176), ultimately handing them their second double digit win in a Big West game. Lastly, Hawaii shot 5-13 (0.385) from the free throw line, the lowest percentage by any Anteater opponent who has attempted 10 or more shots from the charity stripe this season.

UCI OUTLASTS HAWAI'I IN FIFTH STRAIGHT VICTORY (JAN. 11)
Balanced offense from UC Irvine in addition to playing stout defense against Hawai'i helped the Anteaters to a 60-50 victory inside the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday evening. Pierre Crockrell II controlled the offense for UCI with his season best 16 points on 8-15 (0.533) shooting from the floor while dishing out a game high three assists. Guard Justin Hohn was the first two reach double figures with 12 points including a three-pointer. Forward Carter Welling was efficient with 12 points in 9:45 minutes on the court. C. Welling went a perfect 5-5 from the field, 1-1 from three-point range, and 1-1 at the charity stripe. Guard Andre Henry pulled down a team best eight rebounds, a season high, while contributing nine points.

CLIMBING THE NCAA ACTIVE CAREER RANKS
Pierre Crockrell II currently sits 8th in the all-time active career assist leaderboard with his 623 assists in 138 games played. The fifth year senior is 18 assists behind seventh place and has amassed this amount in the third fewest games out of the top-10 active players. Additionally, Crockrell II is sixth with his 2.54 assist-turnover ratio. 

CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 113 made three-pointers in his career, redshirt senior Justin Hohn has tied Brett Lauer (2007-09) to enter into the career made three-pointers leader board at 22nd and needs three more to tie Jerry Green (1998-02) and Mike Hood (2001-03) for 20th. Additionally, Pierre Crockrell II is officially top-10 in program history for career assists and is nine away from tying Kevin Davis (1973-77) for ninth and 13 from tying Lloyd Mumford (1992-94) for eighth.

SARAN; TILLIS LEAD UC IRVINE PAST CAL POLY
UC Irvine pulled away late in a 73-59 victory at Cal Poly on Thursday evening. The Anteaters out-scored the Mustangs 18-8 in the final six minutes to lead UCI to its third straight win. UCI shot at a 0.531 clip from the floor in the second half, knocking down 4-6 from long distance. Freshman guard Derin Saran returned to action and had a team best and career tying 17-point performance on 6-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-4 from three-point range. He also had a team high four steals which tied his career high. Forward Devin Tillis poured in 15 points, shooting 7-9 from the field. The redshirt junior grabbed a team and game-best nine rebounds as well as two assists.

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 30th nationally in bench points per game (28.23) and have out performed their opponent 15 times this season with non-starters. 

IMPROVEMENT FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
UC Irvine has become laser focused at the free throw line and will enter Saturday's game with a 0.745 free throw percentage (304-408) and 0.796 (144-181) in Big West games. The Anteaters rose 118 spots in the national rankings for free throw percentage since the start of league play (was 195 prior to Dec. 28) and are currently 63rd, the highest ranked Big West team in this category and the highest UCI has ranked thus far in the season. 

PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 234 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 816, Opp. 582). The Anteaters average 37.1 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in seven games so far (Occidental--68, Pepperdine--48, Rice--44, South Dakota--72,  UC Riverside--40, Cal State Bakersfield--40, and Cal Poly--40).

DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II has led the Anteaters in 18 contests this season in assists with 134 total. The fifth year guard is averaging 6.1 assists per game and earned his 600th career dime at UC Davis on Jan. 20. Crockrell II nationally ranks 13th in total assists and 17th in assists per game while he sits atop the Big West in both categories. He also has 31 more assists on the season than the next best person in the conference. The guard recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists at Long Beach State (Jan. 25). The Anteaters are 10-5 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 297 total points and 13.75points per game after his first career 20-point game at No. 16/20 USC with his 25 point outing, his second at Utah State with 21 points, and recently had his third against CSUN on Jan. 27 with 22 points. The redshirt senior has 34 double figure scoring games in his career, the most of any player on the Anteater squad, and went on a 13 game double figure scoring stretch (Nov. 22-Jan.18). Hohn reached 700 career points in his double digit scoring performance on January 4th.

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 victory over UC Riverside on Dec. 28, Tillis posted his second double double of the season behind 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tillis recorded three double-double efforts last season and earned the program's first since Mar. 15, 2023. The forward has recorded double-figure scoring in six games and double figure rebounding in four games played this season to lead UCI with 136 rebounds, 6.5 per game. 

THE ANDRE SPECIAL
Andre Henry has helped the Anteaters get it done on both ends of the court this season. From three-point range, Henry is shooting the team's best percentages 32-72 (0.444) and is a top shooter at the free throw line with his 42 makes (42-52, 0.808). The senior has stolen the ball from opponents 20 times and is one of three players with 80+ rebounds on the season.

MR. POSTMAN
Bent Leuchten dominates at the post whether it is scoring baskets or grabbing the ball off the glass. The center returned to action for the Anteaters on Dec. 16 and is one of the teams leaders off the glass, averaging 4.6 rebounds a game in 16 contests played. Leuchten has posted five double-figure scoring games since this year, the latest against UC Davis (Jan. 6) where he put up 14 points. 

LEAN MEAN DEAN MACHINE
Fifth year senior Dean Keeler as an impact off the bench for UCI. On the defensive side, Keeler is second on the team with 112 total rebounds on the year (5.1 per game) and is the squad's leader in blocks (28). Playing offense, the forward has posted five double figure scoring efforts on the season including a career high 22 points on 9-11 shooting against South Dakota. Keeler notched his first double double of the season and his career against CSUN (Jan. 27) with 12 points and a career best 14 rebounds.

CENTER OF ATTENTION
Freshman Carter Welling made his Anteater debut versus Pepperdine on Nov. 21 and has started in nine contests. Averaging 14.3 minutes a game, the center has grabbed 3.4 rebounds per game, blocked 21 shots, and is putting up 6.5 points a game after posting a career high 14-point performance versus the Highlanders on Dec. 28. In the win at Hawai'i on Jan. 11, Welling was efficient in his 10 minutes on the floor going a perfect 5-5 from the floor and drew the and-1 call on his first career made three-pointer. Additionally, at Long Beach State on Jan. 25, the freshman had a career night in steals (2), blocks (5), free throws made (6), and free throws attempted (7).

TURKISH DELIGHT
Derin Saran is second on the team in scoring with 10.7 points per game over 19 games played and has one of the best shooting percentages on the Anteater squad (0.529, 83-157). Saran went on an eight game double figure scoring streak ranging from Nov. 17-Dec. 16 an notched his 200th career point at Cal Poly (Feb. 1) on a career high tying 17 point performance. The young guard also has 58 rebounds, 31 assists, and 18 steals on the year.

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2266 eligible players, Pierre Crockrell II is 2nd in assist rate (43.3). Out of 362 teams, UC Irvine ranks 6th in two-point percentage defense (0.425), 8th in effective field goal percentage defense (0.446), 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.7), and 22nd in bench minutes (41.0).

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: rebounds per game (6th, 6.5--Tillis), field goal percentage (7th, 0.529--Saran), free throw percentage (10th, 0.755--Leuchten), three-point field goals per game (6th, 1.9--Hohn), assists per game (1st, 6.1--Crockrell II), assist-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.6--Crockrell II), and blocks per game (4th, 1.3--Keeler, 6th,  1.2--C. Welling, and 8th, 1.1--Leuchten).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 2.1.24
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in field goal percentage defense (14th, 0.395), assists per game (38th, 16.2), scoring defense (38th, 0.655), and scoring margin (50th, 9.9).

NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 4. The 'Eaters are the highest ranked and one of two Big West teams within the top-100 sitting at 74 with UC San Diego locking in the second position at 99.
 

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UC Irvine at Cal Poly
Thursday, Feb. 1 | 7:00 p.m. PT
Mott Athletics Center | San Luis Obispo, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | Game Notes

ABOUT CAL POLY
> Cal Poly holds a 4-17 overall record entering the contest, picking up non-conference wins against La Verne, Saint Thomas, San Jose State, and Omaha
> The Mustangs played two extra time contests prior to the conference slate (SJSU and Oregon State, L 2OT)
> Cal Poly is coming off their ninth straight conference loss on Saturday night as they fell to Hawai'i 83-73 in Honolulu
> In the Big West, Cal Poly ranks second overall in blocks per game with 3.81
> Cal Poly is paced by Kobe Sanders who scores 18.7 points per game (356) on 110-249 (0.442) shooting from the floor
> Sanders makes frequent trips to the charity stripe where he shoots 0.878 (115-131)
> The guard Sanders passed out 52 assists, the best on the Cal Poly squad
> Jarred Hyder is second on the team with 10.3 points per game, 165 total
> Hyder has taken and made the most three-pointers on the Mustangs (29-100, 0.290)
> Quentin Jones has stolen the ball a team best 30 times
> Joel Armotrading is the team's top rebounder with his 4.5 grabs off the glass per game (95 total) in 21 games played
> Armotrading has swatted away a team best 26 shots so far this season
> Cal Poly was picked to finish eleventh in the Big West Preseason Poll

AT THE TOP OF THE STANDINGS
After defeating CSUN on Saturday evening, UC Irvine holds the top spot in a tie for first place with a 8-1 Big West record. The Anteaters hold the advantage over UC San Diego who also hold a 8-1 league record. 

WOAH WE'RE HALFWAY THERE
Thursday's meeting between UC Irvine and Cal Poly will be the halfway point of the conference season as it is the 10th contest to be played on the Big West schedule.

CRASH THE BOARDS
UC Irvine enters Thursday's game as one of the best rebounding teams in the Big West. The Anteaters bring down 37.8 boards a game which is 4.2 more a game than their opponents. UCI should hold the hefty advantage off the glass against Cal Poly who is 11th in the league in total rebounds (32.3) and rebounding margin (-6.5).

GO FOR THE SCORE
The Anteaters hold a 9.7 scoring margin in their 21 contests played so far this season, which is good for second in the Big West. Thursday's opposition, the Mustangs, are on the opposite end and score 9.5 points less than their opponents. Cal Poly is only putting up 63.2 points a game on the offensive end while UC Irvine pours in 75.4 a game.

'EATERS KNOCK OFF MUSTANGS IN FINAL MINUTE (FEB. 20)
Former Anteater Dawson Baker scored six of UCI's last seven points to lift the Anteaters to a 59-56 victory over Cal Poly at Mott Athletics Center on Monday evening. The Anteaters won their fifth straight to improve to 20-8 overall and 13-3 in the Big West. As a team, UCI shot 50 percent from the floor (13-26) and 4-5 from the line (80.0) in the second half. Forward Dean Keeler was impressive off the bench with 11 points, going 3-6 from the field and 5-5 from the line. Guard Justin Hohn added six points on 3-6 shooting while Pierre Crockrell II put up eight points and six assists. Andre Henry had a team-high seven rebounds to go with three points.

CLIMBING THE NCAA ACTIVE CAREER RANKS
Pierre Crockrell II currently sits tied 8th in the all-time active career assist leader board with his 616 assists in 137 games played. The fifth year senior is 22 assists behind eighth place and has amassed this amount in the third fewest games out of the top-10 active players. Additionally, Crockrell II is sixth with his 2.53 assist-turnover ratio. 

CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 112 made three-pointers in his career, redshirt senior Justin Hohn is just one makes away from catching Brett Lauer (2007-09) to enter into the career made three-pointers leader board. Additionally, Pierre Crockrell II is officially top-10 in program history for career assists and is 16 away from tying Kevin Davis (1973-77) for ninth and 20 from tying Lloyd Mumford (1992-94) for eighth.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES HELP UCI TOP CSUN
Guard Justin Hohn had a game-high 22 points in UC Irvine's 77-72 victory over CSUN in front of 3,441 fans at the Bren Events Center.Hohn shot 9-18 from the floor, including three-pointers, for his third 20-point outing of the season and his career. Forward Dean Keeler recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to go with three blocks. The fifth-year senior was clutch down the stretch, ending the night 8-11 from the free throw line. UCI improves to 8-1 in the Big West and 15-6 overall and remains to be the only team in the conference undefeated on their home floor (8-0).

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 34th nationally in bench points per game (28.00) and have out performed their opponent eight times this season with non-starters. 

DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II has led the Anteaters in 17 contests this season in assists with 127 total. The fifth year guard is averaging 6.0 assists per game and earned his 600th career dime at UC Davis on Jan. 20. Crockrell II nationally ranks 13th in total assists and 21st in assists per game while he sits atop the Big West in both categories. He also has 24 more assists on the season than the next best person in the conference. The guard recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists at Long Beach State (Jan. 25). The Anteaters are 9-5 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 288 total points and 13.7 points per game after his first career 20-point game at No. 16/20 USC with his 25 point outing, his second at Utah State with 21 points, and recently had his third against CSUN on Jan. 27 with 22 points. The redshirt senior has 34 double figure scoring games in his career, the most of any player on the Anteater squad, and went on a 13 game double figure scoring stretch (Nov. 22-Jan.18). Hohn reached 700 career points in his double digit scoring performance on January 4th.

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 victory over UC Riverside on Dec. 28, Tillis posted his second double double of the season behind 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tillis recorded three double-double efforts last season and earned the program's first since Mar. 15, 2023. The forward has recorded double-figure scoring in five games and double figure rebounding in four games played this season to lead UCI with 127 rebounds, 6.4 per game. 

THE ANDRE SPECIAL
Andre Henry has helped the Anteaters get it done on both ends of the court this season. From three-point range, Henry is shooting the team's best percentages 31-69 (0.449) and is a top shooter at the free throw line with his 38 makes (38-48, 0.792). The senior has stolen the ball from opponents 20 times and is one of three players with 80+ rebounds on the season.

MR. POSTMAN
Bent Leuchten dominates at the post whether it is scoring baskets or grabbing the ball off the glass. The center returned to action for the Anteaters on Dec. 16 and is one of the teams leaders off the glass, averaging 4.8 rebounds a game in 15 contests played. Leucthen has posted five double-figure scoring games since this year, the latest against UC Davis (Jan. 6) where he put up 14 points. 

LEAN MEAN DEAN MACHINE
Fifth year senior Dean Keeler as an impact off the bench for UCI. On the defensive side, Keeler is second on the team with 103 total rebounds on the year (4.9 per game) and is the squad's leader in blocks (25). Playing offense, the forward has posted five double figure scoring efforts on the season including a career high 22 points on 9-11 shooting against South Dakota. Keeler notched his first double double of the season and his career against CSUN (Jan. 27) with 12 points and a career best 14 rebounds.

CENTER OF ATTENTION
Freshman Carter Welling made his Anteater debut versus Pepperdine on Nov. 21 and has started in nine contests. Averaging 14.5 minutes a game, the center has grabbed 3.4 rebounds per game, blocked 21 shots, and is putting up 6.5 points a game after posting a career high 14-point performance versus the Highlanders on Dec. 28. In the win at Hawai'i on Jan. 11, Welling was efficient in his 10 minutes on the floor going a perfect 5-5 from the floor and drew the and-1 call on his first career made three-pointer. Additionally, at Long Beach State on Jan. 25, the freshman had a career night in steals (2), blocks (5), free throws made (6), and free throws attempted (7).

TURKISH DELIGHT
Derin Saran is second on the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game over 18 games played and has one of the best shooting percentages on the Anteater squad (0.531, 77-145). Saran notched his 100th career point at Utah State and went on an eight game double figure scoring streak ranging from Nov. 17-Dec. 16. The young guard also has 57 rebounds, 30 assists, and 14 steals on the year.

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2272 eligible players, Pierre Crockrell II is 2nd in assist rate (43.1). Out of 362 teams, UC Irvine ranks 3rd in two-point percentage defense (0.426), 7th in effective field goal percentage defense (0.446), 18th in bench minutes (41.2), and 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.5).

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: rebounds per game (6th, 6.4--Tillis), field goal percentage (7th, 0.531--Saran), free throw percentage (9th, 0.765--Leuchten), three-point field goals per game (6th, 2.0--Hohn), assists per game (1st, 6.0--Crockrell II), assist-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.6--Crockrell II), and blocks per game (5th, 1.2--C. Welling, 7th,  1.2--Keeler, and 8th, 1.1--Leuchten).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 1.29.24
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in field goal percentage defense (16th, 0.394), assists per game (36th, 16.2), and scoring defense (40th, 0.658).

NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 4. The 'Eaters are the highest ranked and only Big West team within the top-100 sitting at 76 with UC San Diego locking in the second position at 106.