THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER BASKETBALL
UNLV (17-16) vs. UC Irvine (23-11)
Tuesday, Mar. 17 | 8:00 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
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UC Irvine will host UNLV Tuesday (Mar. 17) at 8:00 p.m at the Bren Events Center in a first round NIT game.

The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Miles Simon on the call.

STORYLINES
UC Irvine, the No. 4 seed in the Tulsa Region, is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NIT and 10th overall.

The Anteaters advanced to the championship of the 2025 NIT, beating Northern Colorado, Jacksonville State, UAB, North Texas before losing to Chattanooga 85-84 in overtime in the final.

The Anteaters advanced to the Big West title game for the 11th time in program history and for the second consecutive year, but came up short falling to Hawaii 64-71.

Dixon and Derin Saran were named to the Big West All-Tournament team.

UC Irvine is 23-11 overall, recording 20-plus wins for the 11th time under head coach Russell Turner and 16th time in program history.

The Anteaters were the Big West regular season champs for the 10th time in program history and third in the last four years with a 15-5 record.

Nationally, UC Irvine ranks fourth in blocks (5.9), third in field goal percentage defense (38.4) and seventh in defensive rebounds (28.74).

Senior Kyle Evans, who 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, currently leads the country with 113. He has 12 more than the next highest player in the country. The Big West's 2026 Defensive Player of the Year also tops the country in block average at 3.33 per contest.

Following last week's action, Evans moved into eighth on the UCI single season rebound list with 290. He is one shy of Dave Baker's 1971-72 total, three in back of Jonathan Galloway at 293 and six shy of Devin Tillis' fifth place mark of 296. Bent Leuchten set the record with 354 over 39 games a year ago.

UC Irvine has 11 wins all-time in Division I postseason tournaments including 1 in the NCAA, 6 in the NIT, and 4 in the CIT.

Guard Jurian Dixon has 554 points this season and is 27 shy of moving into 10th in the UCI single season list where Jerry Green sits with 571 in 2000-01. Dixon has 889 career points on the strength of  99 career three-pointers.

AT THE NIT
UC Irvine makes the NIT field for the 10th time in its history, sixth time under head coach Russell Turner, and are back for a fourth consecutive season.

The NIT success pushed UCI to a single-season program record 32 wins. It was also the program's first NIT wins since 1986 when they defeated UCLA.

UNLV BREAKDOWN
UCI will meet former Big West member UNLV in the first round. The Anteaters are 9-32 all-time against UNLV, going 7-11 in Irvine. The Runnin' Rebels have won the last four meetings, including a 85-57 victory in Las Vegas last time out on Nov. 28, 2012.

UNLV is 17-16 overall. They were the No 8 seed in last week's Mountain West Tournament, defeating Wyoming, 73-70, before losing to No 1 seed and eventual champion Utah State, 80-60, in the quarterfinals.

The Runnin' Rebels, who are averaging 79 4 points per game, are under the direction of first year head coach John Pastner. UNLV's roster has only one returning player from the 2024-25 season, bringing in 13 new faces for 2025-26, including eight Division I transfers. Former Anteater Myles Che is one of the transfers, but he is sidelined with an injury and will not play.

DIXON DOES IT ALL
Guard Jurian Dixon was named All-Big West first team and is seventh in the Big West in scoring at 16.0 per game overall. He leads the team with 70 three-pointers, making 2.1 per game, which is eighth-best in the Big West. He has made .391 from long range, fourth best in the league. The guard has recorded double-digit scoring in all but four games this season and posted 20 or more points seven times this season. 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.

SOMETHING ABOUT SARAN
Guard Derin Saran was unstoppable in the semifinal leading UCI with 23 points. The guard hit 9-18 from the floor with three three-pointers and 2-2 from the line. He grabbed a team-high nine boards with five assists and a season-high four steals. The honorable mention All-Big West choice is third on the team in scoring (11.3) and rebounds at 5.4 which is 15th in the Big West. The redshirt sophomore is fourth in steals in the league averaging 1.7 and is averaging 3.3 assists per game which is eighth in the Big West. He has led the Anteaters in scoring nine times this season, including a career-high 29 versus Northern Iowa.

MAN AT THE RIM
Senior Kyle Evans was a first team All-Big West selection and became the sixth Anteater to earn the Best Defensive Player honor to add to his long list of accolades. This week, Evans was also named a Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year finalist as well as the Lou Henson Award finalist for best mid-major player. He has 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.

The senior is second in the Big West in rebounding at 8.5 per game and field goal percentage (.624) while averaging 12.1 points per game. He has recorded 11 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 and Hawaii.

He has 161 career blocks over 74 games which ranks third in UCI career blocks behind Will Davis II in second with 208 and Mamadou Ndiaye in first with 218.

OH HENRY
Graduate student Andre Henry was named honorable mention All-Big West as well as Best Sixth Man, joining Anteaters Colin Welp in 2020 and Elston Jones in 2019 who have won the award.

He showed why he earned the sixth man honor, scoring 12 off the bench in each game at the Big West tournament. He has made his way back after an injury to play in 30 games this season, all off the bench. The guard is averaging 10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. The graduate student has totaled points in double figures 19 times this season, including 14 of the last 15 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. Over the last three games he has averaged 14.3 points per game.

The guard is the NCAA's co-active leader in career games played at the same school, seeing action in 145 over his five-plus years tied with UConn's Alex Karaban. It is his second career honorable mention selection, while being named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.

OFF THE BENCH
Jovan Jester Jr. was a spark in the semifinal game, scoring nine points and recording two steals in 11 minutes. He is second on the team in steals with 47 and ranks 11th in the Big West with a 1.4 average. He swiped a career-high six against North Dakota State. The redshirt freshman is averaging 6.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists.

Forward Harrison Carrington is averaging 8.3 points and 3.8 rebounds on the year. He has recorded double-figure points 14 times this season, including a career-high 19 versus Lincoln.

Elijah Chol, who missed eight games with an injury, scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound in all but two games he has played in this season and is averaging 4.7 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 3.9 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 6.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

TEAM EFFORT
UC Irvine has a balanced offensive attack with four or more players recording double-digit points in 22 games this year. Six different Anteaters have led UCI in scoring this season with Jurian Dixon topping the squad 18 times.

BIG WEST REWIND
UCI defeated fourth-seed CSUN 93-78 semifinal leading wire-to-wire. UCI jumped out early and never looked back shooting 58.1 percent (18-31) from the floor to hold a 49-37 halftime lead. The Anteaters ended the game shooting 51.6% (33-64) from the field and 17-22 from the line (77.3%). CSUN only made eight trips to the line making five. UCI dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Matadors 44-26.

Four Anteaters scored in double-digits led by redshirt sophomore guard Derin Saran with 23 points. Guard Jurian Dixon followed with 18 points, while Kyle Evans recorded 15 points and Andre Henry had 12 points off the bench.

In the final, the Anteaters battled back to close within two with 38 seconds left but would not score the rest of the way watching Hawaii score the final five for the 71-64 victory. UCI shot 36.1 percent from the floor for the game (22-61), the fourth lowest mark of the season.

Jurian Dixon led UCI with 17 points hitting 6-15 from the floor, including two three pointers and 3-4 from the line. The redshirt sophomore also grabbed four rebounds and had three assists and three steals. Forward Kyle Evans recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He went 5-10 from the floor and 3-3 from the line plus three blocks. Derin Saran totaled 13 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He totaled 36 points over the two tournament games.