IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine starts their 2024-24 campaign in the final days of October as they host DII Vanguard in an exhibition game at the Bren Events Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 30) evening.
 
FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
Vanguard at UC Irvine
Exhibition Game
Wednesday, Oct. 30 | 7:00 p.m.
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Notes

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
The UC Irvine Anteaters are coming off another championship campaign in the 2023-24 season where they earned the Big West regular season crown behind their 17-3 league record. UCI looks to defend their crown for the third straight season in the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP MENTALITY
In an 11-year span, UC Irvine has won nine Big West championships whether it was a regular season or championship title. The Anteaters have won the Big West outright in 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24 seasons while earning Big West tournament championship titles in 2014-15 and 2018-19. UCI has made eight postseason appearances under the helm of Russell Turner, advancing to the NIT First Round last season.

ELITE DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING
One thing UC Irvine has remained consistent with over the last 14 years is their defense. Head coach Russell Turner has been able to uncover the value on the defensive end with his players and has utilized that to turn it into success. The Anteaters were recently praised in the Field of 68's Big West Preseason Show for their elite defense and rebounding rankings.
 
UCI consistently leads the Big West in individual defensive rating. Ofure Ujadughele led all players last season with a cumulative 91.70 rating which is seventh all time in the league's history. Bent Leuchten holds the 11th all-time ranking at a 93.58 rate. Additionally, Ujadughele is third in the Big West career defensive box plus/minus list with a 3.50 rate.
 
VETERAN PRESENCE
For the second consecutive season, UCI will graduate multiple players from the program. This will be the most veteran team the Anteaters have fielded since the 2019 season, if not, the 2015 season where both earned the auto qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, UC Irvine returns four starters from the 2023-24 championship, the most starters returning from any Big West institution.
 
Justin Hohn has grown tremendously over the last few years including a more off the ball role in the last two seasons. Hohn led the Anteaters in scoring in 2023-24 with 12.6 points per game for All-Big West Second Team recognition and then an All-Big West Coaches' Preseason Team nod to kick off the season.
 
The reigning Big West Best Defensive Player in Andre Henry comes back for his fifth season as an Anteater. Henry has shown toughness and the consistency it takes to perform at that level on the defensive end. The graduate student has evolved into an offensive weapon, finishing the 2023-24 campaign with 10.3 points per game and a team leading 48-114 (0.421) from three-point range.
 
Devin Tillis returns as a redshirt senior with huge defensive and offensive prowess for the Anteaters. Tillis is a problem in the paint on both ends of the floor while also threatening beyond the arc. Due to the balance of the UCI squad, the redshirt senior blends in on the stat sheet, but can be the best player on the league on any given night.
 
Rounding out the returning starters is seven-foot-one center Leuchten. The senior provides a dominant physical presence down low, his size making him an effective protector of the rim and a threat at the post on offense.
 
Additionally, graduate student Ujadughele returns for his sixth year as an Anteater while redshirt junior Langston Redfield has three full years with the program under his belt. Redshirt sophomore Akiva McBirney-Griffin will make his impact with his experience on the sidelines this season helping to develop his fellow teammates due to injury.
  
DEPTH OF THE BENCH – RETURN OF THE REDSHIRTS
After sitting out a year, redshirt sophomore Elijah Chol along with redshirt freshmen Jurian Dixon and Ben Egbo will be active on the 2024-25 roster. Chol makes his return to the court after playing limited minutes in the 2022-23 campaign with both Dixon and Egbo will be making their Anteater debuts.
 
NEW ADDITIONS
Six new faces, two transfers and four freshmen, join UCI in 2024-25. Kyle Evans, Myles Che, Berk Can Akin, Torian Lee, Jovan Jester Jr., and Tishan Ahir join the squad. Evans, a junior forward, brings in NCAA Tournament experience from Colorado State after playing minutes against Virginia in the opening round of the 2024 March Madness. The forward converts a high percentage of his shots from the field as he went 0.800 last year. Che transfers in from Chattanooga where he made 16 starts as a freshman. The guard led the Mocs with a 0.537 shooting clip (77-146) and posted a season high 22 points on the road at Louisville (Nov. 10). Akin hails from Istanbul, Turkey where he has competed in the Turkish national ranks. The guard has played in both the FIBA U18 and U20 European Championships, averaging close to a 40.0 conversion percentage from beyond the arc. Lee joins his Big West MVP and Player of the Year sister Déja Lee in Irvine. The guard recently won bronze at the 2024 AmeriCup with Canada's U18 National Team over the summer and had a standout year with Semiahmoo Secondary in 2023 as a Provincial Champion and MVP. Jester Jr. heads over from Pasadena Hish School where he was a two-time Pacific League MVP and All-CIF Second Team selection. Rounding out the roster is Ahir who was selected to the All-Prodigy League in 2022.

CONFERENCE DOMINATION
According to CBK Report, UCI has one of the best conference winning percentages (64-20, 0.761) over the last five years. In the last five years in the Big West, UC Irvine has won three regular season titles, made two appearances in the NIT, won the conference tournament to earn the league's automatic qualifier to March Madness, and recorded the programs first NCAA tournament win.
 
UC Irvine stands as just one of nine teams to have finished the 2023-24 season with a winning record in conference play in each of the past 12 seasons. Kansas, Oregon, and Virginia stand as the only power five conference teams on the list. Representing the mid-major schools are the Anteaters, Belmont, Gonzaga, Norfolk State, Vermont, and Yale. UCI is the only California school on the list and one of three West Coast representatives. Additionally, the Anteaters are one of six teams (Belmont, Gonzaga, Norfolk State, Vermont, and Virginia) have finished at least four games above 0.500 in conference play in each of the past 12 years.
 
DEFEND THE BREN
In the Turner era of Anteater basketball, UC Irvine holds a 155-46 (0.771) record inside the Bren Events Center. In similar fashion to their overall conference domination over the last decade, the 'Eaters have gone 82-14 (0.854) in Big West play on their home court under Turner's reign.
  
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN
UCI plays ten of their 12 non-conference games on the road, including their three games that will be played in Lethbridge, Alberta at the Western Slam MTE. This is the most UCI has been on the road since the 2019-20 season where 10 games were not at home with four played at neutral sites. The Anteaters will only host one Division I non-conference opponent inside the Bren Events Center.