THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER BASKETBALL

UC Irvine Anteaters (3-1) vs. Utah Valley (2-2)
Utah Community Credit Union Center - Orem, UT
Wednesday, Nov. 19 - 5:00 PM PT | ESPN+ | Live Stats |

Northern Iowa (3-0) vs. UC Irvine (3-1)
Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Saturday, Nov. 22 - 7:30 PM | ESPN+ | KLAA AM830 | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats |

STORYLINES
UC Irvine's contest at Utah Valley is the first leg of the Cancun Challenge. The tournament continues next week in Cancun where the Anteaters will face New Mexico State Tuesday (Nov. 25) and South Dakota State Wednesday (Nov. 26) at the Hard Rock Cancun Riviera Maya.

The meeting with Utah Valley will be the first of many meetings between the Anteaters and Wolverines. The future Big West member joins the conference in 2026-27.

Wednesday will be UCI's first road game after opening up with the first four at the Bren Events Center. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Anteaters are 29-3 at home.

UCI and Northern Iowa have faced off only one previous time with the Anteaters winning 80-60 in Cedar Falls last November.

The Anteaters enter the week 3-1 overall, beating Lincoln, 130-63 and Weber State, 79-70 last week.

UCI is the most unselfish team in the country, leading the nation in assists with a 25.3 average. Guards Tama Isaac and Derin Saran lead the Big West and are ranked 31^st nationally with a 6.0 assist average.

The Anteaters' assist average was helped by a school record 40 assists versus Lincoln, which are the most by any team in the country this season.

Utah Valley is ranked 11^th in the nation in assists (21.0) and are led by Preseason All-WAC player Trevan Leonhardt who is ranked fifth in the country in assists with 8.3 per game.

The Wolverines are 10^th in the country in field goal percentage (54.3).

Saturday's game features two of the top mid-major teams in the country. This week Northern Iowa is eighth and UCI is 12^th in the Colleginsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll.

Sophomore guard Jurian Dixon leads the Big West with a 19.5 scoring average. He has led the Anteaters in points twice this season, including tying his career-high with 23 points versus Weber State.

Last week, guard Derin Saran recorded the program's first-ever triple-double with a career-high 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Lincoln.

Forward Harrison Carrington leads the Big West in field goal percentage, making 19-27 (.704). Fellow forward Kyle Evans is third among Big West players, shooting at a .667 clip (18-27).

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Along with being the top ranked team in assists, UCI is ranked fifth in blocks (8.0), sixth in defensive rebounds (34.25), seventh in rebound average (49.50), scoring margin (36.0) and field goal percentage defense (32.7), 13^th in field goal percentage (53.7) and 16^th in assist/turnover ratio (2.15).

Kyle Evans is ranked 17^th in blocks with 11 and 11^th in blocking average at 2.75 per game.

UTAH VALLEY BREAKDOWN
UVU is 2-2 overall, coming off a 74-75 loss at Fresno State.  

The Wolverines are led by Jackson Holcombe who is averaging 17.3 points per outing.   

Last year's WAC regular season champion went 25-9 with a 15-1 conference record including 12-0 mark at home. They fell in the WAC championship game to GCU sending them to the NIT where they lost their opener at San Francisco, 79-70.

NORTHERN IOWA LOWDOWN
Northern Iowa started the year 3-0 with wins against CSUN (86-57), South Dakota State (65-58) and Furman (70-54). The Panthers will wrap up their four-game homestand entertaining Northern Illinois on Tuesday before heading to the Bren Center.

UNI is led by Leon Bond III who has averaged 15.7 points per game to begin 2025-26. The redshirt junior was a Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Watchlist nominee.

The Panthers were picked to finish second in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll, only trailing Illinois State.