IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine returns to the confines of the Bren Event Center for their last home contest of the month, taking on CSUN on Thursday (Feb. 20) at 7 p.m., then making the trip up to Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday (Feb. 22) for a 6:30 p.m. start.

UC Irvine at Cal State Bakersfield
Saturday, Feb. 22 | 6:30 p.m. PT
Icardo Center | Bakersfield, Calif.
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | UC Irvine Game Notes | Cal State Bakersfield Game Notes

ABOUT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
> Cal State Bakersfield enters the contest with a 12-16 overall record, 6-10 in the Big West
> The Roadrunners are winners of two straight games, claiming a commanding 91-54 win over Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 15) to snap a six game skid before taking a 71-66 road victory at UC Davis (Feb. 20) on Thursday night
> CSUB is an even 4-4 with league opponents inside the Icardo Center, taking down UC Davis, Long Beach State, CSUN, and Cal State Fullerton
> Cal State Bakersfield has pulled out good non-conference wins over North Dakota State (86-81) and their Valley rival Fresno State (74-56)
> The Roadrunners have two players scoring in double figures this far into the season
> Jemel Jones paces the squad with 18.3 points
> Jones throws up the most field goal attempts out of any 'Runner connecting 192 of his 403 attempts (0.476) while also making it to the free throw line the most out of any CSUB player (95-110, 0.864)
> Corey Stephenson contributes 12.0 points in 25.9 minutes of action
> Stephenson is a squad leader in field goal percentage with a 0.484 mark (125-258) and is the top CSUB player off the glass with 5.6 grabs per game
> Marvin McGhee III is close to double figures at 9.9 points per contest
> McGhee III along with his brother Marvin McGhee IV are strong from distance as they are the only two players on the team who have knocked down 35+ three-pointers on the season, 54-175 and 36-71, respectively
> CJ Hardy posts a sneaky 9.7 points per game while leading the team in both assists (58) and steals (36)
> Fidelis Okereke is a team leader off the glass with 4.6 boards per game (128 total) and has blocked 34 shots
> Kadar Waller is strong up top, second on the team in assists  (43) and steals (30)
> Ten of Cal State Bakersfield's 13 players who have seen action this season have started in at least one contest
> The Roadrunners were selected to finish ninth in the Big West this season

BATTLING TO BE TOP OF THE BIG WEST
Through 15 league games played, UC Irvine sits second in the standings with a 12-3 Big West record, hanging behind UC San Diego (23-4 overall, 13-2 Big West).  The Anteaters are ahead of CSUN (19-7, 11-4) for third. UC Riverside has also reached double figure wins in the league, good for fourth in the standings (11-5, 18-10 overall).

ROAD WORK
UC Irvine enters Saturday's game in Bakersfield with 13 wins away from the Bren Events Center (ten road and three neutral). UCI's ten road wins are tied for most in the country with Central Connecticut State with an identical 10-3 road record. Similarly, the Anteaters are tied with Auburn and Big West foe UC San Diego for most wins (13) away from their home court.

CLIMBING THE BIG WEST COACHING LADDER
Head coach Russell Turner holds 311 wins in his career and in the Big West. Turner, who is fourth in the Big West coaching win rankings, is two victories away from tying former UC Santa Barbara leader Bob Williams (19 seasons, 1999-917) for third all-time in the league (313) and needs three wins to hold the third place title on his own.

JOINED THE 1K CLUB
Senior Bent Leuchten etched his name into the UC Irvine record book as the 34th Anteater to eclipse the 1,000-point mark. The center reached this milestone in the game against CSUN (Feb. 20) and has 1,009 career tallies. Leuchten begins his ascent in the ranks and is nine points away from surpassing Dawson Baker (2020-23).

VETERAN TALENT: CAREER GAMES PLAYED IN THE BIG WEST 
In his fifth season on the court and sixth overall with the UC Irvine squad, forward Ofure Ujadughele has entered into the top five of the career games played in the Big West with 147, sitting second in the standings. Ujadughele will tie the all-time standard of 148 games set by Mike Best (2012-16) with an appearance against Cal State Bakersfield and can rewrite history as soon as Thursday Feb. 26 at Cal State Fullerton. Additionally, guard Justin Hohn has played 141 career games, entering the league's top ten in the category, placing sixth, and is just three appearances away from tying UNLV's Freddie Banks (144, 1984-87) for fifth in the ladder. 

LAST TIME OUT VERSUS CAL STATE BAKERSFIED (DEC. 5, 2024)
A late offensive surge helped UC Irvine pull away in the last five minutes of the game to defeat Cal State Bakersfield, 82-66, to open Big West play on December 5th at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters won on the strength of 33 points from the free throw line where they went 33-40 (0.825) on the evening. All of UCI's points were scored by six players, five in double figures, led by guard Justin Hohn. Hohn finished with 19 points, including four three-pointers, a career-high eight assists, and four rebounds. UC Irvine stayed undefeated at 9-0 with the win, tying the 1981-82 team for the best start in program history. 

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
The Anteaters have been sharp at the free throw line this season with 462 makes in 579 attempts and leads the Big West in free throw percentage (0.798) which is also the nation's sixth best shooting clip at the line. UC Irvine went a perfect 13-13 at the charity stripe on Jan. 30, their second time doing so this season (14-14 vs. Pepperdine on Nov. 16).  UCI shot a season high 33-40 from the charity stripe on Dec. 5 in the win over Cal State Bakersfield. Additionally, UC Irvine has held 14 opponents to just single digit makes from the line, the last versus UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 13) and did so in four consecutive games (Dec. 19-Jan. 2). In the national standings, Bent Leuchten ranks fifth in made free throws (161) and 12th in free throw attempts (195) while Myles Che is 24th in free throw percentage (0.892). 

SHARING THE BALL WELL
UC Irvine dished out 22 assists on 27 made baskets in the win over Hawai'i (Jan. 25). It is just the fifth time this season where the Anteaters have dished out 20 or more assists in a game. The 'Eaters had their best assist rate game against CSUN on Feb. 20 with 86.4 percent of their baskets assisted (19-22). UCI is second in the Big West in assists per game (15.96) and in conference games (16.73). Justin Hohn and Myles Che are the top distributors for the 'Eaters, combining to give UCI a 16-4 record when either one of them dishes out four or more assists a game (Hohn 9-4, Che 8-0). 

20 POINT SCORING
In ten of the last 11 outings (Jan. 11-Feb. 20) and in six straight, UC Irvine's leading scorer has posted 20 or more points in the game. Bent Leuchten carried the load with five 20-point performances, both Myles Che and Devin Tillis have had two each, and Torian Lee chipping in the last. The lone game in that stretch that did not see an Anteater perform over 20-points was when Che led with 17 points versus Hawai'i (Jan. 25).

EFFICIENCY IN IRVINE
Bent Leuchten is the Big West's most efficient player thus far into the season with a 30.7 grade. Leuchten ranks first among all players in three categories: overall box plus/minus (11.2), offensive box plus/minus (7.7), and offensive rating (135.4). The center also ranks second in defensive rating (89.2) and fourth in defensive box/plus minus (3.6).

CHASING 1K
Redshirt senior Devin Tillis enters Saturday's contest with 996 career points between his time at UNLV and UCI, just four away from the 1,000 career scorers milestone. Tillis, who is 92 tallies away from the achievement in his UCI career, would become the 35th Anteater to accomplish this feat in a UC Irvine uniform, the third of the season to join guard Justin Hohn and center Bent Leuchten on the list. 

UC IRVINE DROPS 84-72 TO CSUN
Freshman Torian Lee's career-night was not enough in UC Irvine's 84-72 loss to CSUN at the Bren Events Center Thursday evening. Lee posted a career-high 20 points on 7-11 shooting from the field, including 4-8 from three-point distance in 29 minutes of action. He also had three steals and three rebounds. Center Bent Leuchten had 18 points, becoming the 34th Anteater to record 1,000 points in a career with 1,009 and counting. The senior went 4-4 from the floor and 10-12 from the line. He tied his career-high in blocks for the second consecutive game, swatting four. He also tied for the team lead in rebounds with five. The Matadors shot 55.6 percent (15-27) from the floor in the second half and out-score UCI, 50-35, in the second half, including 27-11 in the final 8:49 of the game. CSUN also took advantage at the free throw line, hitting 15-17 (88.2%) in the final 20 minutes. UCI goes to 22-5 overall and 12-3 in the Big West. The Anteaters shot 40.7 percent (22-54) from the floor and 75.0 percent from the line (18-24).

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2303 eligible players, Bent Leuchten is fifth in free throw rate (84.2), seventh in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (7.6), and 28th in true shooting percentage (66.1). Myles Che ranks 44th in free throw percentage (0.892).Out of 364 teams, UC Irvine ranks third in two-point percentage defense (42.8), sixth in free throw attempt/field goal attempt defense (22.1), seventh in free throw percentage offense (80.2), seventh in effective field goal percentage defense (45.1), 10th in assists per field goals made (62.7), 14th in adjusted efficiency defense (94.6), 24th in block percentage offense (7.1), 26th in average possession length defense (16.7), 28th in free throw offense (22.6), 39th in offensive rebound percentage defense (26.4).

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: scoring (9th, 15.9-Leuchten), rebounding (2nd, 8.7--Leuchten and 3rd, 7.9--Tillis), field goal percentage (4th, 0.550--Leuchten and 5th, 0.543--Tillis), free throw percentage (1st, 0.892--Che and 8th, 0.826--Leuchten), assists (5th, 3.8--Hohn), blocks (3rd, 1.4--Leuchten and 4th, 1.3--Evans), and steals (8th, 1.6--Hohn).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 02.20.25
UC Irvine is ranked top 50 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (3rd, 29.44), free throw percentage (6th, 79.8), field goal percentage defense (10th, 38.8), free throws made per game (17th, 17.1), rebounds per game (33rd, 38.78), scoring defense (33rd, 65.8), assists per game (47th, 16.0), and scoring margin (50th, 9.0).

NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 2. The 'Eaters are the second highest ranked team in the Big West. UC San Diego tops the league at a 40 rank with the Anteaters next at 68.
 

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CSUN at UC Irvine
Thursday, Feb. 20 | 7:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
AM 830 | KUCI 88.9 | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Tickets | UC Irvine Game Notes | CSUN Game Notes

ABOUT CSUN
> CSUN enters the contest with an 18-7 overall record
> The Matadors are on a five-game winning streak, their last loss happening on the road at UC San Diego on Jan. 25 (L, 79-54)
> CSUN boasts a 10-4 league record, dropping their  first game against a conference opponent to UC Riverside, 68-64, on Dec. 5, and have only lost two more times since their loss to the Anteaters on Jan. 9
> The Matadors are 8-5 on the road this season, 5-2 in conference play, and have won their last two contests away from Northridge
> CSUN was picked to finish sixth in the Big West this season and landed Keonte Jones on the preseason team
> Jones is one of three Matadors who are averaging double figures as he is third on the team with 13.2 points per game
> Jones averages a near double-double with a team-leading 9.6 rebounds per game (240 total), dished out 107 assists, blocked 37 shots, recorded 50 steals, and has made and attempted the most shots at the free throw line (84-128, 0.656)
> Marcus Adams Jr. leads the scoring for CSUN at 15.9 points per contest and is shooting at a 0.398 clip from three-points range (47-118)
> Adams Jr. is also efficient from the floor converting 53.2 percent of his shots from the field (159-299)
> Scotty Washington rounds out the double figure scoring with 14.8 points per game
> Washington has taken the most three-pointers of any Matador (124) and shoots at the highest rate of all players from the charity stripe (79-91, 0.868)
> Additionally, Washington was just named the Big West Player of the Week on Monday after a career-high 29 point performance with five three-pointers (5-8), scoring 16 of his points in the second half
> PJ Fuller is one of three CSUN players to have started and played in all 25 games joining Jones and Washington and is second on the team with 77 assists
> Fuller also racks up 8.8 points a contest
> Both Mahmoud Fofana and Grady Lewis are both shooting over 56 percent from the floor with Fofana leading the way at a 60.7 rate (71-117) and Lewis at a 56.8 rate (67-118)
> Fofana is second on the squad with 31 total steals

AT THE TOP OF THE BIG WEST
Through 14 league games played, UC Irvine stays at the top of the standings with a 12-2 Big West record, tied with UC San Diego (22-4 overall, 12-2 Big West).  The Anteaters are ahead of CSUN (18-7, 10-4) for third. UC Riverside has also reached double figure wins in the league, good for fourth in the standings (10-5, 17-10 overall).

MID-MAJOR POLL POSITION
The Anteaters ranks fifth in the College Insider Mid-Major poll, with their 620 total points. The Anteaters have been top 10 in the poll for 15 straight weeks.

UNSUNG HEROES
This week (Feb. 17-Feb. 23) is Grow the Game's Student Manager Appreciation week to shine a light on the unsung heroes of college teams. GTG provides free resources to student managers and graduate assistants through mentorship, professional development, job opportunities, and scholarships. We appreciate the time, dedication, and effort of all past and present managers who keep the team running behind the scenes.

CLIMBING THE BIG WEST COACHING LADDER
Head coach Russell Turner holds 311 wins in his career and in the Big West. Turner, who is fourth in the Big West coaching win rankings, is two victories away from tying former UC Santa Barbara leader Bob Williams (19 seasons, 1999-917) for third all-time in the league (313) and needs three wins to hold the third place title on his own.

LAST TIME OUT VERSUS CSUN (JAN. 9, 2025)
An 8-0 run by the Anteaters followed by free throw shooting down the stretch fueled UC Irvine to a 77-67 victory over CSUN Thursday evening. The Matadors cut their deficit to five, 63-58, with six minutes remaining in the second half, but the Anteaters rattled off eight straight points to stay ahead. Center Bent Leuchten posted his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Leuchten scored 11 of his points from the free throw line and shot 60 percent from the field (3-5). Guard Justin Hohn followed with 16 points on the strength of four three-pointers, tying his career-best from beyond the arc. Hohn dished out a game best five assists and recorded three steals.

SCORING DEFENSE
Thursday's contest between UC Irvine and CSUN will pit together the two best defensive teams in the league. The Anteaters sit atop the Big West in opponent field goal percentage (0.385) which is eighth in the NCAA while the Matadorss are second in the conference with a 0.400 mark standing 23nd in the nation.

BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
Two strong rebounding teams in CSUN and UC Irvine go head-to-head on Thursday evening. The Matadors average 40.8 rebounds per game (1st in BW, ninth in NCAA) to the Anteaters  39.0 (2nd in BW, 29th in NCAA). Both teams are strong off the defensive glass, as UCI pulls down 29.77 defensive boards a game, third in the nation, and CSUN grabs the nation's 24th best mark of 27.76. The Matadors also top the Big West in rebounding margin (9.2) which is eighth in the nation.

DUEL OF THE BIGS
Thursday's game will see two of the most talented bigs in the Big West go against each other. CSUN's Keonte Jones is a nationally leader in double-doubles (10th, 12), in rebounds (24th, 240), defensive rebounds per game (17th, 6.8), and rebounds per game (19th, 9.6). Jones ranks first in the Big West in all four categories. UC Irvine's own Bent Leuchten ranks 15th in the NCAA and second in the league with 11 double-doubles on the season, 30th in defensive rebounds (6.36), 32nd in total rebounds (230), and 35th in rebounds per game (8.8). Forward Devin Tillis joins in on the "big man" action, falling behind both Jones and Leuchten in the Big West rankings in total rebounds (199), defensive rebounds per game (6.35), and rebounds per game (8.0).

WATCH YOUR HANDLE
CSUN enters Thursday's matchup as the nations 10th best team in forcing turnovers (15.9) to go along with 8.3 steals per game and have a positive turnover margin of 2.0. On the other hand, UC Irvine only forces opponents to turn the ball over 13.0 times per contest to go with 7.0 steals

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
The Anteaters have been sharp at the free throw line this season with 444 makes in 555 attempts and leads the Big West in free throw percentage (0.800) which is also the nation's fifth best shooting clip at the line. UC Irvine went a perfect 13-13 at the charity stripe on Jan. 30, their second time doing so this season (14-14 vs. Pepperdine on Nov. 16).  UCI shot a season high 33-40 from the charity stripe on Dec. 5 in the win over Cal State Bakersfield. Additionally, UC Irvine has held 14 opponents to just single digit makes from the line, the last versus UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 13) and did so in four consecutive games (Dec. 19-Jan. 2). In the national standings, Bent Leuchten ranks eighth in made free throws (151) and 13th in free throw attempts (183) while Myles Che is 26th in free throw percentage (0.892). 

20 POINT SCORING
In nine of the last ten outings (Jan. 11-Feb. 15) and in five straight, UC Irvine's leading scorer has posted 20 or more points in the game. Bent Leuchten carried the load with five 20-point performances, while both Myles Che and Devin Tillis have had two each. The lone game in that stretch that did not see an Anteater perform over 20-points was when Che led with 17 points versus Hawai'i (Jan. 25).

EFFICIENCY IN IRVINE
Bent Leuchten is the Big West's most efficient player thus far into the season with a 30.7 grade. Leuchten ranks first among all players in three categories: overall box plus/minus (11.4), offensive box plus/minus (7.8), and offensive rating (134.7). The center also ranks second in defensive rating (88.2) and fifth in defensive box/plus minus (3.6).

CHASING 1K
Senior Bent Leuchten enters Thursday's contest with 991 career points, just nine away from the 1,000 career scorers milestone. Leuchten would become the 34th Anteater to accomplish this feat in a UC Irvine uniform, the second of the season to join guard Justin Hohn in the list. Additionally, Devin Tillis has 992 career points between his time at UNLV and UCI, just eight away from the career milestone and 96 away in his Anteater career with 904 points.

DEFENSE LOCKS DOWN HAWAI'I IN 66-49 VICTORY
The UC Irvine defense held Hawai'i to a season-low in points in a 66-49 victory at the Stan Sherrif Center at SimpliFi Arena Saturday evening. UCI caused 14 turnovers, scoring 16 points off Hawai'i miscues. The Anteaters held the Rainbow Warriors to just 29.1 percent shooting from the field, including 2-11 (0.182) from long distance. Senior Bent Leuchten led all players with 21 points, his ninth 20+ point performance of the season. The center went 7-8 from the floor and 7-10 from the line, scoring 13 of his points in the second half. Leuchten competed on both ends, pulling down seven rebounds and recording a career-high four blocks. UC Irvine earned their tenth road win, tied for most in the country with Central Connecticut State with an identical 10-3 road record. Similarly, the Anteaters are tied with Auburn for most wins (13) away from their home court.

THIS JUST-IN!
Justin Hohn is a UC Irvine squad leader with 300 total points and 11.5 points per game scoring. The graduate student has 58 double figure scoring games in his career, the most of any player on the Anteater squad, Hohn reached 1,200 career points in his seven-point outing against UC San Diego on Feb. 8. The guard leads the Anteaters in both assists (97) and steals (41).

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 (133-239, 0.556) and has 18 double digit scoring games on the season. Additionally, Tillis is second on the squad in rebounds with 199 total (8.0 rpg). Tillis is tied for the team lead of 11 career double-doubles, posting his fifth of the season versus Hawai'i on Jan. 25 (11 pts, 13 rebs).

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 8.8 rebounds a game in 26 contests played, and paces the scoring at 15.8 points per game. Leuchten has posted double-figure scoring games in 20 games this year, the latest at Hawai'i (Feb. 15) where he put up 21 points. The German is just one of seven players who have seven or more 20 point, 10 rebound efforts this season.

CHE-SANITY
At the top of the formation for the Anteaters, Myles Che helps lead the distribution effort with his 75 total assists. Che adds to the scoring effort with his 12.3 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. The had his 17th double figure scoring effort of the season, 13th straight, with 13 versus UC Santa Barbara. Additionally, Che has knocked down at least one three-pointer in the last 1 contests.

FITTING RIGHT IN
Redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon entered the UC Irvine starting lineup on Dec. 14 at Oregon State and has proved himself on both the offensive and defensive ends. The guard averages 7.3 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game over 26 contests. Dixon continues to have career performances or break through nights, his latest versus Cal Poly (Jan. 18) with seven rebounds and four steals.

SWAT TEAM
Junior transfer Kyle Evans registered multiple blocks in three straight contests (Nov. 29-Dec. 5) and saw his six-game block streak (Jan. 11-Jan. 30) come to an end, totaling 35 over 26 contests. His 35 swats at the rim rank third in the Big West. The forward had several career performances in a few games span with his latest on Jan. 25 versus Hawai'i where he matched his career high 12 points on perfect 6-6 shooting from the floor and tied his career best four blocks.

BRICK WALL
The big men down low of Bent Leuchten, Kyle Evans, and Elijah Chol pose a threat in the defensive paint for opponents. The three trio combine to average 9.5 defensive rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. All three big men have double figure blocks on the season: Evans (35), Leuchten (33), and Chol (10). In conference contests, the trio average 9.6 defensive rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game.

PUT IT IN THE PAINT
UCI has outscored their opponents by 168 points when scoring in the paint (UCI 864, Opp. 696). The Anteaters average 33.2 points in the paint per game and have scored 40 or more points in nine games so far (Chapman--42, Northern Iowa--48, Weber State--44, Kennesaw State--44, Belmont--42, California Baptist--46, Cal Poly--42, Cal Poly--46, UC Santa Barbara--40).

OLD RELIABLE
With a veteran team that has won multiple championships in the last few seasons, three UC Irvine veteran starters are averaging double figures. Bent Leuchten leads the way with 15.8, Devin Tillis right behind at 13.8, and Justin Hohn next at 11.5. While not a veteran who has played their whole career at UC Irvine, Myles Che is the fourth player on the team to average double digits with 12.3 points.

1,000-POINT CLUB
Graduate student Justin Hohn etched his name into the UC Irvine record book as the 33rd Anteater to eclipse the 1,000-point mark. The guard reached this milestone in the victory over Towson (Nov. 30) and has 1,217 career tallies. Hohn begins his ascent in the ranks and is six points away from passing Jeff Herdman (1,222--1987-91) for 21st and needs 28 to move in front of Mike Heckman (1,244--1966-69).

500-REBOUND MACHINES 
Redshirt senior Devin Tillis put his name into the UC Irvine record book as the 28th Anteater to reach the 500-rebound achievement. The forward reached this milestone in the win at California Baptist (Dec. 30) and has 606 career boards. Tillis continues his ascent in the ranks and is five away from Ricky Butler (611, 2009-13) for 16th, seven to catch Adam Folkner (612, 2008-13) for 15th, eight to tie Jeff Von Lutzow (614, 1989-93) and Jerry Maras (614, 1972-75) for 14th, and 64 from meeting Ben McDonald (670, 1980-84) for 13th. Additionally, senior Bent Leuchten became the 29th Anteater to pull down 500 rebounds in their UCI career. The center accomplished this feat at UC Riverside (Jan. 23) and has 554 career rebounds. Leuchten is tied with Mamdou Ndiaye (554, 213-16) for 21st needing 32 to go ahead of Mark Nelson (585, 1965-67) for 20th.

STEALING THE LEAD
Guard Justin Hohn entered the top 10 in the program for steals with five takeaways at Cal Poly (Jan. 2). He is ranks seventh with 138 in his career and needs six more in order to move in front of Evan Leonard (143, 2016-20) for sixth.

THREE-POINT SNIPER
Justin Hohn placed his name in the record book for the third time this season, entering the top 10 in career made three-pointers made with his three triples against Hawai'i (Jan. 25). He is eighth with 179. Hohn needs 11 more three-pointers to reach Jaron Martin (190, 2013-17) for seventh.

SHARING THE BALL WELL
UC Irvine dished out 22 assists on 27 made baskets in the win over Hawai'i (Jan. 25). It is just the fifth time this season where the Anteaters have dished out 20 or more assists in a game. The 'Eaters had their best assist rate game against UC San Diego on Feb. 8 with 84.2 percent of their baskets assisted (16-19). UCI is second in the Big West in assists per game (15.85) and in conference games (16.57). Justin Hohn and Myles Che are the top distributors for the 'Eaters, combining to give UCI a 16-3 record when either one of them dishes out four or more assists a game (Hohn 9-3, Che 8-0). 

STARTING THE FIRE
Over the last five games, three of the five UC Irvine starters in Bent Leuchten (16.6 ppg), Devin Tillis (14.4 ppg), and Myles Che (14.2 ppg) are averaging double figures with Justin Hohn close behind at 9.8 points per contest. Leuchten is shooting 55/50/80 and Tillis hitting 57 percent from the field overall. Che has been near perfect from the line, just missing one of his last 20 shots (19-20, 0.950). Three Anteaters (Hohn, Che, and Tillis) hold double figure assists with Leuchten (9) just one shy of reaching double digit dimes. Lastly, Leuchten has blocked 10 shots and Hoh has recorded 10 steals. 

KENPOM LEADERS
Out of 2296 eligible players, Bent Leuchten is seventh in free throw rate (80.2), eighth in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (7.5), 36th in true shooting percentage (65.2), and 48th in defensive rebound percentage (24.6). Myles Che ranks 47th in free throw percentage (0.892).Out of 364 teams, UC Irvine ranks third in two-point percentage defense (42.6), fourth in free throw attempt/field goal attempt defense (21.7), fifth in free throw percentage offense (80.5), sixth in effective field goal percentage defense (44.8), 11th in adjusted efficiency defense (93.6), 12th in assists per field goals made (61.9), 15th in block percentage offense (6.9), 26th in offensive rebound percentage defense (25.8), 27th in free throw offense (22.5), and 28th in average possession length defense (16.7).

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Several Anteaters sit in the top ten of the Big West individual statistical rankings: scoring (9th, 15.8-Leuchten), rebounding (2nd, 8.8--Leuchten and 3rd, 8.0--Tillis), field goal percentage (4th, 0.556--Tillis and 5th, 0.542--Leuchten), free throw percentage (1st, 0.892--Che and 7th, 0.825--Leuchten), assists (5th, 3.7--Hohn), blocks (3rd, 1.3--Evans and 4th, 1.3--Leuchten), and steals (7th, 1.6--Hohn).

NATIONAL STATISTICS THROUGH 02.18.25
UC Irvine is ranked top 50 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (3rd, 29.77), free throw percentage (5th, 80.0), field goal percentage defense (8th, 38.5), free throws made per game (18th, 17.1), scoring defense (24th, 65.1), rebounds per game (29th, 39.04), and scoring margin (38th, 9.8).

NET WORTH
The first NET ranking of the season was released on Monday Dec. 2. The 'Eaters are the second highest ranked team in the Big West. UC San Diego tops the league at a 41 rank with the Anteaters next at 61.