IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine men's basketball is set to play on national television in both games this week, first on ESPNU against UC Santa Barbara inside the Bren Events Center (Feb. 22) before traveling down to UC San Diego on Feb. 24 for a 1 p.m. tip on Spectrum SportsNet.

UC Irvine at UC San Diego
Saturday, Feb. 24 | 1:00 p.m. PT
LionTree Arena | La Jolla, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (Spectrum SportsNet) | Tickets | Game Notes

Please note that due to a conflict with the Angels, AM830 will broadcast the game on delay at 5pm. Anteater fans can access the live broadcast through the link above.

ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO
> UC San Diego has gone 7-2 since the meeting with UC Irvine enters the week of action with a 18-9 overall record, 12-3 in the Big West
> The Tritons won their Thursday road trip matchup with UC Riverside, 77-65
> UCSD is a perfect 7-0 at home against league opponents and have not lost in La Jolla since Dec. 1 in their one point loss to San Diego State, 63-62
> UCSD leads the Big West in three-pointers made per game (9.0), turnover margin (2.63), and assist-turnover ratio (1.42)
> Five straight wins to start Big West action is the best mark for UC San Diego in program history
> Head Coach Eric Olen collected his 200th career victory at Cal Poly on Saturday Jan. 13
> The Tritons are in their final year of the four year NCAA Division I transition and will be eligible for the Big West and NCAA postseasons in 2024-25
> Bryce Pope paces UC San Diego's offense with 17.6 points per game (474 total) on 0.411 shooting from the floor (169-411)
> Tyler McGhie is averaging 14.1 points in 17 games played with 240 total points
> Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones increased his points per game to 13.3 on an efficient 125-215 shooting (0.581)
> Tait-Jones is also the team's best rebounder with 5.8 grabs off the glass per game (156 total) which is also tied with transfer Emmanuel Tshimanga (93 total)
> Francis Nwaokorie rounds out the double figure scoring with his 282 total points, 10.4 per game
> Hayden Gray distribute the ball 3.9 times a game, a team best
> UC San Diego was picked to finish ninth in the Big West Preseason Poll

AT THE TOP OF THE STANDINGS
After defeating UC Santa Barbara on Thursday evening, UC Irvine remains the sole team in the top spot for first place with a 13-2 Big West record. The Anteaters hold the advantage over UC San Diego and UC Davis who hold 12-3 and 11-5 league records, respectively. Additionally, Saturday's (Feb. 17) win over the Roadrunners clinched a spot in the Big West Championship for UCI.

CONTINUING TO WRITE HISTORY: 20-WIN SEASON
Holding a 20-7 record, UC Irvine has earned its 14th 20-win season in program history and ninth under head coach Russell Turner. This marks the second consecutive season with 20 or more wins as the 2022-23 squad finished the year 23-12.

POTENT DEFENSE
UC Irvine heads into Saturday's contest on the road at UC San Diego as the Big West's top scoring defense team limiting their opponents to 66.6 points per game. The Anteaters have held seven league foes to 65 points or fewer. UCI also holds the second mark in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (0.405).

LEADING THE SCORING
The Anteaters hold a 9.8 scoring margin in their 27 contests played so far this season, the best mark in the Big West. Saturday's opposition, the Tritons, hold the league's second spot with their 0.9 scoring margin. UC San Diego averages 0.3 more points on the offensive end (UCSD 76.7 and UCI 76.4) while UC Irvine holds their opponents to one less point than the Tritons on the defensive end (UCI 66.6, UCSD 67.7).

GOOD DEFENSE AND UNSELFISH PLAY LEAD TO WIN OVER UCSD (JAN. 18, 2024)
In the battle of unbeaten Big West teams, UC Irvine prevailed with a 76-65 victory over UC San Diego in an electric Bren Events Center on Thursday night. Guard Andre Henry was stellar on both ends of the court. The junior led the Anteater offense with 18 points, hitting 7-12 from the floor, including 4-6 from three-point range while holding UCSD's Bryce Pope, who averages 18.7 points per game, to just eight points on 1-8 from the field and 6-6 from the stripe. UC Irvine won its fifth straight, improving to 13-5 overall and is on top of the Big West standings with a 6-0 mark. UCSD goes to 11-7 on the year and 5-1 in league action. The Anteaters shot 28-57 (0.472) for the game, including a blistering 16-29 (0.429) in the second half. Unselfish play resulted in 19 assists.  

CLIMBING THE NCAA ACTIVE CAREER RANKS
Pierre Crockrell II currently sits 8th in the all-time active career assist leaderboard with his 654 assists in 143 games played. The fifth year senior is 17 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 seventh with his 2.54 assist-turnover ratio. 

CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 118 made three-pointers in his career, redshirt senior Justin Hohn is now 20th in the career made three-pointers leader board and is now four three-pointers away from tying Eyassu Worku (2016-20) for 19th. Additionally, Pierre Crockrell II is officially top-10 in program history for career assists, ranking seventh with 343 total. Crockrell II is now 69 assists away from catching Jerry Green (1998-02) for sixth.

UC IRVINE DOWNS UCSB, 81-69, IN FRONT OF ELECTRIC BREN CROWD
A trio of UC Irvine guards recorded double figure points in the Anteaters' 81-69 victory over UC Santa Barbara at the Bren Events Center on Thursday. The Anteaters improve to 20-7 overall, posting their 14th 20-win season and ninth under head coach Russell Turner. UCI remains at the top of the Big West standings with their 13-2 record. Guard Justin Hohn led UCI with 19 points, hitting 5-9 from the field, including two three-pointers, and 7-10 from the free throw line. Freshman Derin Saran was a perfect 8-8 from the line, a career high, and 4-8 from the floor for 16 points. Guard Andre Henry had 15 points, going 6-12 from the floor and 3-5 from the line with six rebounds. UCI dominated the glass, out-rebounding UCSB 40-28, including 32 defensive caroms.

DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II has led the Anteaters in 23 contests this season in assists with 165 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 17th in assists per game, 18th in total assists, and 51st in assist turnover ratio. He also has 42 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 13-6 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 349 total points and 12.9 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 35 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 800 career points in his seven-point performance on February 8th at UCSB.

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 nine games and double figure rebounding in four games played this season to lead UCI with 160 rebounds, 6.2 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 37-89 (0.416) and is a top shooter at the free throw line with his 53 makes (53-66, 0.813). The senior has stolen the ball from opponents 22 times and is one of three players with 100+ 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 4.1 rebounds a game in 21 contests played. Leucthen has posted seven double-figure scoring games since this year, the latest against Cal State Bakersfield (Feb. 17) 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 132 total rebounds on the year (4.9 per game) and is the squad's leader in blocks (29). 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 3.7 rebounds per game, blocked 27 shots, and is putting up 7.1 points a game after posting a career high 14-point performance versus the Rainbow Warriors on Feb. 3. 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), and free throws made (6).

TURKISH DELIGHT
Derin Saran is second on the team in scoring with 10.6 points per game in 24 games played and has one of the best shooting percentages on the Anteater squad (0.510, 101-198). 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 72 rebounds, 42 assists, and 21 steals on the year.

THREE-HEADED BEAST IN THE CENTER
The big men down low of Bent Leuchten, Dean Keeler, and Carter Welling pose a threat both in the defensive and offensive paint. The three headed monster combined to average 21.0 points, 12.7 boards and 3.5 blocks per game.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: rebounds per game (5th, 6.2--Tillis), field goal percentage (8th, 0.510--Saran), free throw percentage (7th, 0.800--Leuchten and 10th, 0.787--C. Welling), assists per game (1st, 6.1--Crockrell II), assist-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.6--Crockrell II), and blocks per game (5th, Leuchten and 6th, C. Welling--1.2, and 8th, Keeler--1.1).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 2.22.24
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in field goal percentage defense (25th, 0.405), free throw percentage (27th, 0.765), assists per game (43rd, 15.7), scoring defense (43rd, 66.6), scoring margin (43rd, 9.8), and field goal percentage (45th, 0.474).

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 81 with UC San Diego locking in the second position at 111.

 

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UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine
Thursday, Feb. 22 | 8:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPNU) | Tickets | Game Program | UC Irvine Game Notes | UC Santa Barbara Game Notes

ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA
> UC Santa Barbara has gone 1-2 since the meeting with UC Irvine just two weeks ago in Santa Barbara on Feb. 10 and enters the week of action with a 14-11 overall record, 7-8 in the Big West
> The Gauchos won their Saturday match-up with Hawai'i, 77-71, inside the Thunderdome
> UCSB is 4-3 on the road this season against league opponent and last lost away from their home court on Feb. 15 at UC San Diego (L, 61-46)
> UC Santa Barbara leads the Big West in team field goal percentage (0.495), team three-point field goal percentage (0.356), and opponent three-point field goal percentage
> Ajay Mitchell leads UCSB offensively with 19.6 points per game (23 played) with 451 total points
> Mitchell was last season's Big West Player of the Year and is currently on the Lou Henson Mid Season Award watch list
> Additionally, Mitchell has dished out 91 total assists (4.0 per game), a team best
> Transfer Yohan Traore averages 14.3 points a game
> Traore is one of the most efficient shooters on UCSB, shooting 126-217 (0.581) from the floor
> Fifth year Josh Pierre-Louis has scored 270 total points this season (11.3 per game)
> Pierre-Louis has stolen the ball a team best 36 times
> Cole Anderson rounds out the double figure scoring with his 10.2 points per game (255 total) and is the only player for the Gauchos to have started and play in all 21 games
> Anderson is dangerous behind the arc, taking and making the most three-pointers for UCSB (61-151, 0.404)
> Ariel Bland leads the effort off the glass with a team best 6.2 rebounds per game (154 total)
> In the last meeting between the two teams, UCI outscored UCSB in four specialty stat categories: turnovers (16-6), paint (44-24), second chance (14-2), and bench (27-4) 
> UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll with nine first place votes

AT THE TOP OF THE STANDINGS
After defeating Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday evening, UC Irvine is the sole team in the top spot for first place with a 12-2 Big West record. The Anteaters hold the advantage over UC San Diego and UC Davis who hold 11-3 and 10-5 league records, respectively. Additionally, Saturday's win over the Roadrunners clinched a spot in the Big West Championship for UCI.

IN THE HUNT: 20-WIN SEASON
Currently holding a 19-7 record on the season, UC Irvine is just win away from its 14th 20-win season in program history and ninth under head coach Russell Turner. This would mark the second consecutive season where the 2022-23 squad finished the year 23-12. 

CHAMPS VS. CHAMPS
Two perennial programs, UCI and UCSB continue to finish atop of the Big West standings and combine for three of the last four Big West Championships and shared the regular season title in 2022-23.

POTENT DEFENSE
UC Irvine heads into Thursday's contest at home against UC Santa Barbara as the Big West's top scoring defense team limiting their opponents to 66.5 points per game. The Anteaters have held seven league foes to 65 points or fewer. UCI also holds the second mark in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (0.405).

SHARP SHOOTERS 
Both UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara rank within the top-50 nationally in field goal percentage, 49th and 10th respectively. Both squads are shooting over a 0.470 clip from the field.

UC IRVINE POSTS IMPRESSIVE ROAD WIN AT UCSB, 76-61 (FEB. 8, 2024)
UC Irvine improved to 11-1 in the Big West with a 76-61 victory over UC Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome on Thursday evening. The Anteaters, who won their fifth in a row, put on another impressive offensive performance, shooting at a 0.532 clip from the field (33-62), including a 0.636 (21-33) showing in the second half. UCI took advantage of 11 UCSB turnovers, scoring 16 points and recorded 14 second chance points. UC Irvine had four players in double-figure points, paced by guard Pierre Crockrell II with a team-high 14 points, including 10 in the first half. He went 7-13 (0.538) from the floor and dished seven assists. Forward Devin Tillis totaled 13 points on 6-9 (0.667) shooting from the floor, while guard Derin Saran came off the bench to go 5-8 (0.625) from the field, including a three-pointer for 11 points. Both players grabbed three rebounds. Guard Andre Henry rounded out the double-digit performers with 10 points on 5-10 (0.500) shooting from the field.

CLIMBING THE NCAA ACTIVE CAREER RANKS
Pierre Crockrell II currently sits 8th in the all-time active career assist leader board with his 649 assists in 143 games played. The fifth year senior is 22 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 2.56 assist-turnover ratio. 

CAREER LEADER BOARD WATCH
With 116 made three-pointers in his career, redshirt senior Justin Hohn is now 22nd in  the career made three-pointers leader board and is tied with 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, ranking eighth with 331 total. Crockrell II is four assists away from tying Aaron Fitzgerald (2004-06) for seventh.

UCI HAS SEASON BEST PERFORMANCE AT THE LINE IN WIN OVER CSUB
UC Irvine went 30-35 from the free throw line on the way to a 77-71 victory over Cal State Bakersfield at the Bren Events Center on Saturday evening. The Anteaters had a season-best 30 made and 35 attempted from the line led by center Bent Leuchten and forward Ofure Ujadughele each going 6-6. Three other UCI players had a perfect mark from the charity stripe: Dean Keeler (4-4), Devin Tillis (3-3), and Derin Saran (2-2). UCI improves to 19-7 overall on the year and sits on top of the Big West standings with a 12-2 mark.

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 24th nationally in bench points per game (28.54) and have out performed their opponent 17 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 0.764 free throw percentage (373-488) and 0.816 (213-261) in Big West games. The Anteaters rose 168 spots in the national rankings for free throw percentage since the start of league play (was 195 prior to Dec. 28) and are currently 27th, the highest ranked Big West team in this category and the highest UCI has ranked thus far in the season. 

DEFEND THE BREN
In the Turner era of Anteater basketball, UC Irvine holds a 152-46 (0.767) record inside the Bren Events Center. In similar fashion to their overall conference domination over the last five years, the 'Eaters have gone 79-14 (0.849) in Big West play on their home court. 

TAKING THE FLOOR FOR THE 100TH TIME
On the road at UC Riverside (Feb. 10), fifth year senior Dean Keeler played in his 100th game for UC Irvine. At Long Beach State (Jan. 25), redshirt senior Justin Hohn made his 100th appearance for UC Irvine. Additionally, transfer Dylan Thoerner played in his 100th collegiate game. Redshirt senior Ofure Ujadughele registered this feat back on Dec. 31 at Cal State Bakersfield. Fellow teammate Andre Henry will hit this mark before the completion of the season.

PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 300 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 992, Opp. 692). The Anteaters average 38.2 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in nine games so far (Occidental--68, Pepperdine--48, Rice--44, South Dakota--72,  UC Riverside--40, Cal State Bakersfield--40, Cal Poly--40, Hawai'i--62, and UC Santa Barbara--44).

DISHIN' DIMES
Pierre Crockrell II has led the Anteaters in 22 contests this season in assists with 160 total. The fifth year guard is averaging 6.2 assists per game and earned his 600th career dime at UC Davis on Jan. 20. Crockrell II nationally ranks 16th in assists per game, 19th in total assists, and 43rd in assist turnover ratio. He also has 43 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 12-6 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 330 total points and 12.7 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 800 career points in his seven-point performance on February 8th at UCSB.

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 nine games and double figure rebounding in four games played this season to lead UCI with 152 rebounds, 6.1 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 37-85 (0.435) and is a top shooter at the free throw line with his 50 makes (50-61, 0.820). The senior has stolen the ball from opponents 21 times and is one of three players with 100+ 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 4.3 rebounds a game in 10 contests played. Leucthen has posted seven double-figure scoring games since this year, the latest against Cal State Bakersfield (Feb. 17) 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 129 total rebounds on the year (5.0 per game) and is the squad's leader in blocks (29). 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 14.1 minutes a game, the center has grabbed 3.8 rebounds per game, blocked 27 shots, and is putting up 7.2 points a game after posting a career high 14-point performance versus the Rainbow Warriors on Feb. 3. 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), and free throws made (6).

TURKISH DELIGHT
Derin Saran is second on the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game in 23 games played and has one of the best shooting percentages on the Anteater squad (0.511, 97-190). 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 68 rebounds, 40 assists, and 20 steals on the year.

THREE-HEADED BEAST IN THE CENTER
The big men down low of Bent Leuchten, Dean Keeler, and Carter Welling pose a threat both in the defensive and offensive paint. The three headed monster combined to average 21.3 points, 13.1 boards and 3.5 blocks per game.

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2263 eligible players, Pierre Crockrell II is 1st in assist rate (42.6). Out of 362 teams, UC Irvine ranks 8th in two-point percentage defense (0.439), 10th in effective field goal percentage defense (0.457), 20th in bench minutes (40.5), 31st in adjusted defensive efficiency (97.9), and 34th in free throw percentage offense (0.764).

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: rebounds per game (6th, 6.1--Tillis), field goal percentage (8th, 0.511--Saran), free throw percentage (10th, 0.792--C. Welling), assists per game (1st, 6.2--Crockrell II), assist-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.7--Crockrell II), and blocks per game (5th, C. Welling and 6th, Leuchten--1.2, and 7th, Keeler--1.1).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 2.19.24
UC Irvine is ranked top-50 nationally in field goal percentage defense (27th, 0.405), free throw percentage (27th, 0.764), assists per game (41st, 15.8), scoring defense (42nd, 66.5), scoring margin (43rd, 9.7), and field goal percentage (49th, 0.473).

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 80 with UC San Diego locking in the second position at 112.