THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER BASKETBALL
UC Irvine (13-7, 6-2) at UC San Diego (15-5, 5-3)
LionTree Arena - La Jolla, Calif.
Saturday, Jan. 24 - 7:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats 

UC Irvine heads to UC San Diego Saturday (Jan. 24) for a 7:00 p.m. game at the LionTree Arena.

UCI returns home next Thursday (Jan. 29) to host Hawaii at the Bren Events Center. The game time has changed to 8:00 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU.

STORYLINES
UCI improved to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in the Big West after an 80-66 victory over UC Riverside Thursday.

The Anteaters sit on top of the Big West standing with Hawaii, one game ahead of UCSD who are 5-3.

Saturday's meeting with the Tritons is a rematch of the 2025 Big West Championship game.

The teams split regular season games last season, winning in each other's arenas. After winning at the Bren Center, UCSD captured the Big West title, 75-61 in Henderson, NV.

UCSD, 15-5 overall, is ranked 16th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major poll, while the Anteaters are receiving votes.

Nationally, the Anteaters are once again one of the best defenses, currently ranked third in field goal percentage (37.7), fifth in blocks per game (6.2) and 16th in defensive rebounds (28.53).  

The UCI defense was in full force Thursday in the win against the UC Riverside. The Anteaters held UCR to a 34.4 percent (22-64) shooting performance for the game and just 28.8 percent (10-35) field goal percentage in the second half. UCI totaled 12 steals, the second most this season by the Anteaters.

The Tritons are 15-5, coming off a 80-74 victory at UC Davis Thursday. Hudson Mayes scored a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win. UCSD scored 55 points in the second half, shooting 54.8% (17-31) in the final 20 minutes.

UC SAN DIEGO LOWDOWN
UCI leads the all-time series, 16-5, and between Division I foes they are 7-4. UCI is 7-2 on the road in the series with just one loss since UCSD became Division I and that took overtime.

The Tritons have won the last two outings after starting league play alternating wins and losses. Notable non-conference results included winning the early-season MTE in Florida, a win at Fresno State, and a loss to USD. Big West losses have come at Cal Poly and home versus Fullerton and CSUN.

Leo Beath's 15.2 points per game leads the squad followed by three others averaging double digits.

BLOCK PARTY
Senior forward Kyle Evans leads the nation in total blocks with 64 and in blocking average at 3.20. Evans has recorded four or more blocks in seven games this season.

Evans is second in the Big West in field goal percentage (.628) and rebounding with an 8.5 average.

RIVERSIDE RECAP
UCI snapped a two-game losing streak with a win at UC Riverside. In UC Irvine's win against the Highlanders, the Anteaters burst out of halftime with a 19-0 run and never looked back.

Guard Jurian Dixon led five Anteaters in double-digit scoring with 15 points. He went 6-15 from the field, including two three-pointers. He also had three steals and three rebounds. 

Forward Harrison Carrington scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, knocking down 6-8 from the floor and 2-3 from the line.

Andre Henry (13), Derin Saran (11) and Tama Isaac (11) rounded out the double-figure scorers. Forward Kyle Evans pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds, the second most in his career.

UCI committed 24 fouls, the second most this season.