THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER BASKETBALL
Credit Union 1 Big West Men's Basketball Championship
No. 1 UC Irvine (22-10, 15-5) 
Lee's Family Forum / Henderson, NV
Friday, Mar. 13 - 6:00 PM | ESPNU |  Live Stats 
Big West Central
UCI Championship Page

UC Irvine is the No. 1 seed for the 2026 Credit Union 1 Big West Men's Basketball Championship. The Anteaters received a double-bye into the semifinals Friday (Mar. 13) at 6:00 p.m. at the Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.
UCI will play either No. 4 CSUN, No. 5 UC San Diego or No. 8 Cal Poly.

Friday's game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Corey Williams on the call.

STORYLINES
The Anteaters are 22-10 overall and 15-5 in the Big West.

UC Irvine clinched its 10th regular season title in program history and third in the last four years.

UCI has been a mainstay in the championship semifinals, making their 13th appearance in the last 14 years.

UC Irvine has advanced to the title game 10 times in program history, capturing the championship in 2015 as the No. 3 seed and in 2019 as the No. 1 seed.

The Anteaters have recorded over 20 wins for the 11th time under head coach Russell Turner and 16th time in program history.

Senior Kyle Evans had five blocks last Thursday against Cal Poly and became the UC Irvine and Big West single season block record holder, surpassing former Anteater Mamadou Ndiaye's mark of 106 set in 2013-14. Evans enters the post-season with 109 blocks which leads the nation as does his 3.41 block average.

Nationally, UC Irvine ranks fourth in blocks (5.9), third in field goal percentage defense (38.1) and eighth in defensive rebounds (28.88).

Redshirt sophomore Jurian Dixon and senior Kyle Evans were named first-team All-Big West while graduate student Andre Henry and redshirt sophomore Derin Saran were honorable mention selections. It is the fourth time in program history UCI has landed multiple players on the first team and first since 2020.

Evans was also named the Big West's Defensive Player of the Year. UCI players have garnered Defensive Player of the Year accolades nine times in program history with Evans becoming the sixth Anteater to earn the honor.

Henry was named Best Sixth Man, joining Anteaters Colin Welp in 2020 and Elston Jones in 2019 who have won the award.

BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP
UCI's regular season title is the 10th in program history and eighth under head coach Russell Turner handing the Anteater the No. 1 seed.

UCI enters the tournament as a top 2 seed for the eighth time in the last 10 championships.

The 'Eaters last won the title in 2019 and have made it back to the final twice since then including last season.

All-time, the 'Eaters are 39-39 as they'll participate in their 41st tournament this year.

With coach Turner at the helm, the team has gone 18-11 in the tournament.

TOURNAMENT FIELD BREAKDOWN
UC Irvine's semifinal opponent will not be known until Thursday afternoon with three potential matchups - No. 4 CSUN, No. 5 UC San Diego or No. 8 Cal Poly.

Both Cal Poly and UC San Diego split the regular season matchups with UCI. The Mustangs won at home versus UCI erasing a deficit as big as 15 points and at 13 points at the half primarily from their 14 made threes. The return matchup last week went a little different with UCI controlling the game in a 107-85 win with both teams shooting over 70 times. The Mustangs are the leading scoring team in Big West action (83.1 PPG) along with the conference scoring leader Hamad Mousa with 21.1 PPG in Big West play and the only conference player averaging over 20 points a game overall.
The series with UC San Diego began with a grind-it-out win for UCI at La Jolla, 61-59, before UCSD held off UCI by two, 71-69 in the Bren Center. The Tritons are the only team other than UCI to hold opponents under 70 points a game in Big West action.They can attack teams from all angles with Leo Beath (12.4) the leading scorer (12.4 PPG) and Alex Chaikin topping the Big West with a 42.4% mark from three.

Sitting in the quarterfinal round awaiting the winner is CSUN. The Matadors lost three of their last four after a seven-game win streak. UCI was able to win both matchups joining only Cal State Fullerton to do so. UCI won by 14 at home back in December with the matchup at CSUN two weeks ago on a Derin Saran buzzer-beater. The Matadors are another high-scoring team averaging over 80 points per game. They excel in rebounding grabbing 41.9 per game to lead the Big West during conference play driven by the leading rebounder, Josh O'Garro (9.4 RPG), with sharpshooter Larry Hughes II hitting 54 threes in 20 Big West games and averaging 17 points per game along with Big West Player of the Year Josiah Davis at 15.7.

TEAM EFFORT
UC Irvine has a balanced offensive attack with four or more players recording double-digit points in 20 games this year, including five Anteaters collecting double figures in the win last Thursday over Cal Poly. Six different Anteaters have led UCI in scoring this season with Dixon topping the squad 17 times.

The Anteater bench has out-scored the opponents 137-63 over the last four games.

DIXON POWERS OFFENSE
Guard Jurian Dixon leads the team and is seventh in the Big West in scoring at 15.9 per game overall. Against conference opponents, he is shooting .393 from three-point range which is third best in the league, making 2.1 per game, which is eighth-best. The guard has recorded double-digit scoring in all but four games this season. He has posted 20 or more points seven times this season, including each of teh last two outings. He had a career-high 26 points against CSU Bakersfield. The 2024-25 Big West Freshman of the Year has been named Big West Player of the Week twice this season.

Dixon is The Big West reigning Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins over Cal Poly and UC Davis.

He also earned the Big West weekly honor on Jan. 5.

EVANS MAKING HIS MARK
Senior Kyle Evans' 109 blocks are 25 more than anyone in the nation. The forward is second in the Big West in rebounding at 8.5 per game and field goal percentage (.624) while averaging 12.0 points per game. He has recorded 10 double-doubles on the season, which are second most in the Big West. The senior totaled a career-high 24 points versus North Dakota State and 16 rebounds in the first meeting with CSUN. He has totaled five or more blocks six times during the regular season, including a career-best eight versus Northern Iowa.

This week, Evans was named a Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year finalist. He has also been named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list as well as earning Lute Olson Award National Player of the Week on Feb. 2. He was named Big West Player of the Week on December 29, 2025 and the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational MVP.

OH HENRY
Graduate student Andre Henry has made his way back after an injury to play in 28 games this season, all off the bench. Against Big West opponents this season, Henry is averaging 12.1 points which ranks 24th and is eighth in field goal percentage at .491. Overall, he is averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. The graduate student has totaled points in double figures 18 times this season, including 12 of the last 13 outings. He posted a season-high 19 points to lead UCI against Cal State Fullerton, going a perfect 8-8 from the floor with three threes.

The guard is the NCAA's active leader in career games played at the same school, seeing action in 143 over his five-plus years. It is his second career honorable mention selection, while being named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.

SOMETHING ABOUT SARAN
Guard Derin Saran is third on the team in scoring (10.8) and rebounds (5.3). The redshirt sophomore is averaging 1.8 steals against Big West opponents and is sixth overall with a 1.6 mark. The guard is averaging 3.3 assists per game which is ninth in the Big West. He has led the Anteaters in scoring eight times this season, including a career-high 29 versus Northern Iowa.He has led the Anteaters in scoring eight times this season, including dropping a career-high 29 versus Northern Iowa.

OFF THE BENCH
Forward Harrison Carrington has recorded points in double figures in 11 of the last 14 games. He is averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds on the year. He went 6-7 from the floor and 2-2 at the line against the Mustangs for 14 points last Thursday.

Jovan Jester Jr. is second on the team in steals with 43 and ranks 12th in the Big West with a 1.3 average. He swiped a career-high six against North Dakota State. The redshirt freshman is averaging 6.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists.

Elijah Chol, who missed eight games with an injury, scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound in all but one game he has played in this season and is averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He is second on the team in blocks, swatting 1.0 per contest.

RUNNING THE SHOW
Freshman Tama Isaac has started every game this season at point guard, averaging 4.1 assists per game which ranks third among Big West players. He dished a career-best 13 assists versus CSU Bakersfield, the third most in the league this year and most by an Anteater since Pierre Crockrell II had 16 against CSU
Bakersfield in 2023. He is averaging 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

BIG MAN
Post-player Akiva McBirney-Griffin has started the last 12 games and is averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. He totaled a career-high 12 points last week versus Cal Poly, hitting 3-5 from the floor and 6-7 from the line. He also added five rebounds and two assists.