IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center on Saturday Nov. 16 for a 7 p.m. tilt with Pepperdine.

Pepperdine at UC Irvine
Saturday, Nov. 16 | 7:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | KUCI 88.9 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | UC Irvine Game Notes | Pepperdine Game Notes 

ABOUT PEPPERDINE
> Pepperdine finished their 2023-24 campaign with a 13-20 overall record, 5-11 in the West Coast Conference (WCC)
> The two schools last met at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada last season where the Anteaters walked away with the 76-60 victory
> The Waves are under new leadership this season with Ed Schilling at the helm
> It is Schilling's seventh career season coaching, but has not been on the sidelines since 2002-23
> UC Irvine is the second of five Big West schools on the Waves schedule and recently dropped 94-76 at UC San Diego
> Pepperdine has a knack for scoring through two contests as they rank 14th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (0.444), 21st in field goal percentage (0.531), and 25th in effective field goal percentage (0.612) and lead the WCC in all three categories
> On the other hand, the Waves rank 18th in the nation in fouls committed per game (13.0)
> Entering 2024-25, Pepperdine brought in seven transfers, six from Division I and one from Division III
> Stefan Todorovic, a San Francisco (USF) transfer, is third in the nation in scoring with 29 points per game 
> The forward is converting a strong 72.0 percent (18-25) shots from the field and a whopping 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range. He has also made it to the charity stripe the most of any Wave player as he is shooting 15-18 (0.833)
> Moe Odum is next up in scoring with his 14 points per game with 10 makes from the field (10-18, 0.556) and dished out a team best 15 assists
> Odum led fellow WCC school Pacific in assists per game (4.6) which ranked third in league contests
> Zion Bethea rounds out the double figure scorers tallying 12.5 points and matches Odom's field goal makes and takes
> Dovydas Butka is close to the double figure scoring range at 9.5 points per game and is second on the team in trips to the free throw line (7-11, 0.636)
> Butka has grabbed a team leading 17 rebounds for 8.5 boards per game
> Boubacar Coulibaly, who did not see action against the Anteaters last season, is also a threat off the glass with his 7.0 grabs per game

POLL POSITION
UC Irvine entered the season ranked 12th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Poll. After a strong 3-0 opening week that included three double figure margin victories with two of those on the road and taking down the previously ranked seventh team, the Anteaters earned a top five ranking, sliding in at the fifth position in this week's top 25. In T3 Bracketology's weekly poll the Anteaters ranked second, 15th in Mid-Major Madness's weekly release, and entered Mid Major Basketball's rankings at 21.

WELL RESTED
Both UC Irvine and Pepperdine come into Saturday's contest having almost a full week off as the Anteaters last game was played on Sunday Nov. 10 and the Waves last action was on Saturday Nov. 9.

ANTEATERS TAKE DOWN PEPPERDINE, 76-60 (NOV. 21, 23)
In a classic west coast battle, freshman guard Derin Saran powered the Anteater offense with a career high 16 points in the 76-60 victory over Pepperdine in the first game of the Ball Dawgs Classic at The Dollar Loan Center. Guard Andre Henry contributed 10 points with his 4-6 shooting while Langston Redfield set his career-best in points with eight. Forward Devin Tillis had an eye grabbing stat line of seven points, six rebounds, and five assists. The Anteaters shot 60.7 percent (17-28) from the floor in the second half for their third game shooting over a .500 clip.

BATTLING FOR THE SCORE
The meeting between the Anteaters and the Waves pits together two teams who average 76.0 and 76.5 points a game, respectively. UC Irvine is shooting at a near 50.0 percent from the field at 49.1 while Pepperdine is converting their shots at a 53.1 rate. On the defensive end, the Waves have let their opposition score 79 points per game at a 0.452 clip.

LOCKDOWN SECOND HALVES
Through three games played, UCI has not allowed their opponents to score more than 28 second half points in a game. LMU was able to pour in the 28 points in the Anteaters 66-51 victory, but UCI has held both Chapman and UNI to 22 apiece.

HOLDING THE LEAD
In 120 minutes of action in 2024-25, UC Irvine has only ever trailed by one point twice and both were at Northern Iowa when the Panthers went up 3-2 at 18:21 in the first half and 13-12 at 13:53. The Anteaters have held the advantage for 115:48 minutes. 

MOVEMENT IN THE METRICS
After a dominating 20-point road win at Northern Iowa (80-60), UCI moved up to 62 in KenPom after the completion of all contests played on Sunday Nov. 10. The Anteaters entered the meeting at 80, rising 18 spots in the metrics. Just two days prior, UCI saw a 24-spot movement after defeating LMU 66-51 on Nov. 8 to rank 80 at the completion of all Friday contest's where they entered at a 104 rank. 

POTENT DEFENSE
Through the first three games of the regular season, UC Irvine has held their opponents to 54.3 points per game with LMU scoring the lowest at 51 points on Nov. 8. The Anteater's scoring defense is currently ranked 15th in the nation. UCI has also held their opponents to a 0.350 clip from the field which is good for 32nd nationally. All three opponents the Anteaters have faced have scored less than 60 points.

PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 40 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 114, Opp. 74). The Anteaters average 38 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in two games so far (Chapman--42 and Northern Iowa--48).

CHASING 1K
Graduate student Justin Hohn enters Saturday's meeting with Pepperdine sitting at 953 career points, just 47 away from the 1,000-career scorer's milestone. Hohn would become the 33rd Anteater to accomplish this feat in a UC Irvine uniform, the first since Dawson Baker at the completion of the 2022-23 campaign. 

CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 135 made three-pointers in his career, graduate student Justin Hohn ranks 15th in the career made three-pointers leader board and is seven three-pointers away from catching Travis Souza (2011-15) and Scott Brooks (1985-87) for 14th with 142. 

UC IRVINE DOMINATES UNI 80-60 ON THE ROAD
Six players scored in double figures as UC Irvine dominated Northern Iowa, 80-60, inside the McLeod Center in a Sunday matinee. The Anteaters showed their offensive prowess throughout the contest as they shot 33-60 (0.550) from the floor on a Panther defense that averaged a 61.5-point scoring defense entering the contest. Bent Leuchten posted a powerful game high 18 points on 7-12 shooting from the floor, eight rebounds, two assists, and a block. Justin Hohn was next in the scoring with his 13 points as he went 6-10 from the field and dished out a game best three assists. Both Devin Tillis and Andre Henry chipped in 11 points each, both shooting 5-8 from the floor. Tillis was one board shy of a double-double with nine rebounds while Henry tallied three steals. Rounding out the double figure scoring was Myles Che and Kyle Evans with 10 points apiece. Evans scored eight of his in the first half and finished 4-6 from the field. Che knocked down two three-pointers, the most of any Anteater.

THIS JUST-IN!
Justin Hohn is a UC Irvine squad leader with 36 total points and 12.0 points per game scoring. The graduate student has 43 double figure scoring games in his career, the most of any player on the Anteater squad, Hohn reached 900 career points in his 19-point performance on March 15th versus Long Beach State and is 47 away from eclipsing the 1,000-mark.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Devin Tillis is a threat both on offense and defense for the Anteaters. The forward coverts at a high rate from the floor (13-19, 0.684) and has two double digit scoring games on the season. Additionally, Tillis is second on the squad in rebounds with 22 total (7.3 rpg). Tillis also leads all Anteaters with six career double-doubles.

THE ANDRE SPECIAL
Andre Henry has helped the Anteaters get it done on both ends of the court this season. From the field, Henry is shooting at a high percentage, 12-22 (0.545) and is a top shooter at the free throw line with his seven makes (7-8, 0.875). The graduate student has stolen the ball from opponents five times.

THE GERMAN PAINTER
Bent Leuchten dominates at the post or in the paint whether it is scoring baskets or grabbing the ball off the glass. The center is the team's leader off the glass, averaging 8.7 rebounds a game in three contests played, and paces the scoring at 16 points per game. Leuchten has posted double-figure scoring games in all three games this year, the latest versus Northern Iowa (Nov. 10) where he put up 18 points. 

SWAT TEAM
Junior transfer Kyle Evans has registered multiple blocks in back-to-back contests, totaling five over three contests. His five swats at the rim rank first in the Big West. The forward had a career best performance against the Panthers on Nov. 10 with his first double figure performance with 10 points on 4-6 shooting from the field.

SEEING THE FLOOR
At the top of the formation for the Anteaters, Myles Che leads the distribution effort with his seven total assists while only committing two turnovers in 69 minutes of action. Che adds to the scoring effort with his seven points per game and recorded his first double digit scoring game in an Anteater uniform at Northern Iowa on Nov. 10 with his ten points.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: scoring (9th, 16.0--Leuchten), rebounds per game (3rd, 8.7—Leuchten and 4th, 7.3--Tillis), field goal percentage (5th, 0.684--Tillis and 10th, 0.593--Leuchten), blocks per game (1st, 1.7--Evans), and steals per game (6th, 2.0--Hohn).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 11.13.24
UC Irvine is ranked top 50 nationally in scoring defense (15ht--54.3), defensive rebounds per game (22nd--32.00), and field goal percentage defense (32nd--35.0).

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2359 eligible players, Andre Henry is 41st in true shooting percentage (80.6) and 42nd in two-point percentage (0.875). Out of 364 teams, UC Irvine ranks fourth in both free throw attempt/field goal attempt defense (16.1) and offensive rebound percentage defense (13.9), 18th in two-point percentage defense (38.7) and free throw percentage (82.8) and free throw percentage defense (57.9), 23rd in adjusted efficiency defense (95.0), 35th in minutes continuity (56.7), and 47th in effective field goal percentage defense (42.4).