THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER BASKETBALL

UC Irvine Anteaters (0-0) at No. 12 UCLA Bruins (0-0)
Exhibition
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial (13,800) - Los Angeles, Calif.
Tuesday, Nov. 28 - 7:00 PM | B1G+ | Live Stats | Game Notes

Pick-And-Roll
32 - UC Irvine's 32 wins in 2024-25 were more than every school outside of the Final Four participants as UCI reached the NIT Championship Game
14 - The 2024-25 Anteaters led the NCAA with 14 road wins going 14-3 in true road contests, 8th-best win percentage nationally, and 5-2 at neutral sites
7 - Although the win did not count officially because it was an exhibition, UCI's win over ASU gives them victories over 7 current Big XII schools (ASU, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, K-State, Texas Tech, TCU)

TUESDAY AT THE BRUINS
The Anteaters finish their preseason slate off with a trip to Pauley Pavilion Tuesday night to take on the 12th-ranked team in the country, UCLA out of the Big Ten.

The UC schools have met 11 times prior in regular season or postseason match-ups, the last coming in 2017. The Bruins have nine wins in the series with UCI winning their two matchups in 1988 and during the 1986 NIT Tournament, their only win in Pauley Pavilion. Since 2000, UCI has lost three times by just one point, including an 79-80 overtime defeat in 2012.

The Bruins finished fourth in their new digs in the Big Ten last year, 23-11 overall, and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Mick Cronin is back for a seventh season, and an assistant of his, Rod Palmer, is an Anteater basketball alum and will coach against his son, Joshua Palmer

BIG WEST PROJECTIONS
The UC Irvine men's basketball team was picked to finish first in the 2025-26 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll with guards Andre Henry and Jurian Dixon named to the six-member preseason all-conference team.

The Anteaters, who were tabbed first for the second consecutive year, totaled 98 points and eight first place votes. UCI is coming off a campaign to remember as they broke the record for the most wins in a season with a 32-7 mark and advanced to the NIT championship game. The Anteaters were 17-3 in Big West games a year ago.

UC Santa Barbara was picked second with 93 points and three first place votes. Hawaii (76), UC San Diego (69) and CSUN (63) round out the top five.

Henry was sidelined with an injury after nine games last year when he was averaging 7.6 points. In 2023-24, the graduate student was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big West honorable mention, playing in all 34 games and averaging 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He recorded 27 steals and swiped a career-high five steals versus Occidental that year. He also posted 17 double-figure scoring performances.

Dixon is the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year after averaging 8.8 points per game. He was second on the team in steals (35) and had a .432 field goal percentage. Dixon posted a career-high 23-point performance, that included a perfect 9-9 at the free throw line, at UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 8, 2025.

It's the first time UCI has had a pair of players on the preseason team since 2018-19 when Tommy Rutherford and Evan Leonard were honored.

EXHIBITION OPENER RECAP
The Anteaters got a win over Arizona State in the opening exhibition at home. The Sun Devils opened up the lead as big as 12 points in the first half with 7:02 on the clock before the 'Eaters closed things to within three by halftime. Derin Saran added to his game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds with a spirited second half helping even the game at the 14:20 mark, and putting the Anteaters up for good on an Akiva McBirney-Griffin bucket with 3:26 left to play on for a 72-68 win. UCI built their win from the free-throw line (17-for-20) while only shooting 3-of-12 from beyond the arc and topping ASU in the paint (44-26) and on the boards (43-38). Notable minutes were played by freshman Tama Isaac (28 min, 6 pts, 5 ast) in addition to 12 rebounds by Kyle Evans, four steals from Jurian Dixon, and three blocks each from Evans and Jovan Jester Jr.

The Bren Events Center has been a haven for the Anteaters who have gone 26-2 in their own building over the last two seasons. They've made a run of 79-12 over the last seven seasons. The visit from Arizona State was the first by a Power-4 school, even in an exhibition, since December 18, 2012 when the 'Eaters hosted LSU and fell, 66-60.

TEAM NOTES

• UC Irvine is returning only two players who averaged more than ten minutes per game in 2024-25 (min. 10 games appeared in): Jurian Dixon and Kyle Evans. Torian Lee returns but will redshirt this season.
• UCI's projected starting lineup includes true freshman Tama Isaac, who averaged 13.6 points, five rebounds and five assists during his summer representing New Zealand during U19 FIBA play in 2025. He now joins the Anteaters, where head coach Russell Turner called him an "exciting young prospect that I know [Anteater] fans will be excited to see." 
• UC Irvine also is projected to start Harrison Carrington in its match-up with UCLA. Carrington, a Colorado transfer, signed in July after averaging 8.9 minutes a game with the Buffaloes. Carrington started against ASU and played 19 minutes, scoring nine points on nine field goal attempts. Speaking about Carrington and his new role with the Anteaters, Turner said, "Harrison was a viable guy for Colorado. I think he's got the chance to come here and assert himself."
• Derin Saran is a presumptive standout for UC Irvine in 2025-26. Saran spent the 2023-24 season playing for the Anteaters where he averaged 10.1 points per game in a bench role before heading to Stanford before the 2024-25 campaign. Saran only appeared in five games due to injury and retained a year of eligibility as a result. In his first game back in Irvine, Saran scored 27 points against ASU to lead all scorers in the exhibition victory.
• Akiva McBirney-Griffin and Andre Henry are expected to rejoin the fold in 2025-26 after missing all or most of last year with injury. The duo will be looked to as leaders and heavy contributors for the Anteaters.
• In a year where UC Irvine will have to replace the majority of last season's rotational minutes, Turner is looking to his veterans coming back from injury or other programs to supplement the production lost after last season. "The team is looking like it's filling out well. A lot of people had questions about, you know, how are you going to replace your whole starting lineup, except for Jurian, but I like what we've got going on," Turner said. "We brought two starters, with Andre Henry coming back and Derin Saran coming back."
• "I say all the time, we've been a team that's had great continuity and great readiness. And I'm counting on readiness. I'm counting on Kyle Evans being ready for a bigger role. I'm counting on Eli Chol being ready for a bigger role," Turner continued.
• Evans and Chol will have to help supplant the void left behind by center Bent Leuchten, who graduated in 2025. Evans is a projected starter for the Anteaters and led the team in rebounds with 12 against ASU. Chol enters his redshirt junior season after averaging 3.6 minutes per game over two seasons for the Anteaters, appearing in 41 games.
• Jovan Jester Jr. will have a chance at a rotational role for UCI this season as well after redshirting his first season on campus in 2024-25. Jester Jr., a California native, played well against ASU, hitting a three and a pair of free throws on offense and recording two steals and three blocks against the Sun Devils. 
• Joshua Palmer, Mason Hodges, Bryce Goldman, Luke Isaak, Tama Isaac and Nes Emeneke all enter their true freshman seasons with the Anteaters.