IRVINE, Calif. -- The UC Irvine men's basketball team kicks off the 2024-25 season at home on Monday Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. against Chapman as the second game of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team.

Chapman at UC Irvine
Monday, Nov. 4 | 8:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | Game Notes 

ABOUT CHAPMAN
> Chapman finished their 2023-24 campaign with a 15-11 overall record, 9-7 in the SCIAC a fourth place finish in the league
> The Panthers reached a berth into the SCIAC Tournament where they fell to the finalist, Cal Lutheran 
> UC Irvine is the only DI school on the Chapman schedule and the first DI opponent they will have faced in two seasons
> Longtime Panthers head coach Mike Bokosky retired during the offseason after 31 seasons at the helm where he recorded a 532-261 overall record
> Chapman alumnus and longtime assistant coach in Dan Krikorian will take the reigns of the program in 2024-25
> Chapman fields a veteran team with one fifth year student, five seniors, and six juniors
> Jake Heberle was recognized as an All-SCIAC First Team selection in 2023-24 after leading Chapman in scoring during the conference season (17.6 ppg) and led the conference in three-point shooting as he converted at a 0.489 clip from long range
> Blakeley Stoughton was named to the All-SCIAC Second Team after averaging 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in SCIAC games
> Overall, Stoughton led the team with 16.4 points per game (146-289, 0.505) with Heberle right behind him with 16.1 points per game (120-241, 0.498)
> McKelary Robertson also averaged double figure scoring on the season, going 111-242 from the field for 15.0 ppg
> Cruz Billings led the distribution for the Panthers with a team best 97 assists

HISTORY IN SEASON & HOME OPENERS
All time, UC Irvine is 27-32 (0.458) in their first game of the year. Additionally, UCI is 42-17 (0.712) in their first home game of the year. In the last 14 years, Head Coach Russell Turner is 6-8 all time in season opening games and 10-4 in home opening games. The 2024-25 Anteaters look to improve the mark to 7-8 adn 11-4 against fellow Orange County school, Chapman. The two squads last met on opening day of the 2022-23 season where UCI prevailed 96-50.

HANG IT FROM THE RAFTERS
Prior to the start of Monday's game, the Anteaters will unveil their new championship banner from the rafters of the Bren Events Center after going 17-3 in Big West play to win the program their ninth regular season title and seventh under head coach Russell Turner.

13 PLAYERS SCORE IN HOME OPENER OVER CHAPMAN (NOV. 7, 22)
UC Irvine shot 54.2 percent from the floor in in the season opener at the Bren Events Center Monday evening. The Anteaters began the 2022-23 campaign going 39-72 from the field, including eight three-pointers. They out-rebounded Chapman 49-29 and held the Panthers to 29.6 percent shooting on the night (16-54). Five UCI players recorded double-digit points, led by forward Devin Tillis with 14 points. Tillis was 6-7 from the field with two from long distance. Justin Hohn posted 12 points on 5-9 shooting with four assists in the win.

AT FIRST GLANCE...
UC Irvine topped neighbor Vanguard, 81-58, in an exhibition game at the Bren Events Center on Wednesday  (Oct. 30) evening. The Anteaters had points from 10 different players, including four players with double-digit scoring. Redshirt freshman Jurian Dixon and graduate student Justin Hohn led the Anteaters with 14 points apiece. Dixon went 6-11 from the floor, while Hohn was 5-7 from the field with six rebounds and four assists. Both players knocked down two three-pointers. UCI shot 49.2 percent (29-59) from the floor for the game and at a 0.593 clip in the second half.

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.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE
In the Big West Coaches' Poll that was released on Oct. 15, UC Irvine was picked first to finish first in the league with eight first place votes. Graduate student Justin Hohn was named to the Big West Coaches' Preseason Team after garnering All-Big West Second Team honors last season. It was the first time since the 2020-21 season that the Anteaters were picked to finish atop the standings and first time since 2021-22 that a UCI player was selected to the preseason squad.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICS
Several publications have taken a stab at the projected finish for UC Irvine in the Big West and where they rank nationally. Both the Blue Ribbon Yearbook and Mid Major Madness predict that the Anteaters will finish atop the league standings while College Hoops Report lists that UCI will finish second in the league. Justin Hohn was also listed as an All-Big West First Team favorite in the Blue Ribbon Yearbook. Bent Leuchten got a Big West Player of the Year mention and All-Big West First Team nods in College Hoops Report's analysis of the conference. In the national eye, both College Hoops Top50 and College Basketball Review list UC Irvine as a top 100 team, listed as 88th and 90th, respectively. 

ALL-AMERICAN WATCH LIST: NON-POWER CONFERENCES
Bracketeer.org, run by basketball reporter Rocco Miller, unveiled their 68 players who were considered for the three All-American Teams and includes players poised to be all-conference level players across each of the 22 eligible conferences. Center Bent Leuchten is an honoree on the preseason list and is one of five Big West players to be recognized. The watch list was comprised after seven consecutive months of schedule consulting and mass-scale roster tracking by Rocco Miller and input from various coaches, industry journalists, and industry peers. 

CORE FOUR
UCI returns four starters, Justin Hohn, Andre Henry, Devin Tillis, and Bent Leuchten, the most of any Big West school in 2024-25. When all four players started a contest with each other last season, the Anteaters were 18-4.

BEST (MM) TEAMS OF 2024-25
The Field of 68 pulled together a comparable list of best teams are outside of power conferences plus the A-10, MWC and WCC. UC Irvine ranks seventh in the publication's list of top-25 mid-major teams and is one of three Big West representatives on the list (UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara). 

CHASING 1K
Graduate student Justin Hohn enters the season with 917 career points, just 83 away from the 1,000 career scorers 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.