@UCImbb /UCIMBB 2019-20 MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES @UCIMBB MEDIA RELATIONS : Sarah Zetlmeisl // PHONE: (949) 824-8934 // EMAIL: [email protected] // www.ucirvinesports.com UC IRVINE AT UNIV. OF SAN DIEGO Tuesday, Nov. 6 | 7:00 PM | Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) | San Diego, Calif. Audio KUCI.org 2019-20 Schedule Live Stats ucirvinesports.com 2018-19 Overall Record 21-15 All-Time Series USD leads 12-14 2018-19 WCC Record 7-9 Overall 0-0 | Home 0-0 | Away 0-0 | Neutral 0-0 Series at USD USD leads 8-3 Head Coach Sam Scholl (2nd season) Streak UCI W2 NOVEMBER Record at USD 23-17 Career Record Same Last Meeting UCI won 99-79 on 12/3/11 1 Fri. UCSD (Exhibition) 7 p.m. 5 Tues. @ San Diego 7 p.m. 9 Sat. @ Pepperdine 5 p.m. UCI Opens Regular Season at USD, Pepperdine 12 Tues. Life Pacific 7 p.m. OPENING TIPS 15 Fri. at Boise State 6 p.m. > The Anteaters are coming off their best season in program history, earning a school record 31 wins. 2018-19 marked UCI’s 18 Mon. @ Colorado 6 p.m. seventh-straight winning season after finishing with a 31-6 (.837) overall record and a 15-1 mark in Big West play 21 Thur. @ TCU 5 p.m. 24 Sun. % vs. Detroit 12 p.m. > UCI won 17 straight games, also a school record, before its loss in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 against Oregon. UCI 26 Tues. % vs. Louisiana 12 p.m. earned its second NCAA Tournament berth after winning its second-ever Big West Tournament Championship 30 Sat. Eastern Michigan 7 p.m. > At the NCAA Tournament, the 13th-seeded Anteaters won the programs first-ever tournament game upsetting fourth-seeded DECEMBER Kansas State, 70-64. With the win, UCI also knocked off its first ranked opponent since beating No. 15 Stanford in 2003 7 Sat. Cal Baptist 7 p.m. 14 Sat. Pacific Union 7 p.m. > 2018-19 also marked the first time UCI won both the Big West regular season and tournament and the ‘Eaters have the 16 Mon. ^ vs. Kent State 4 p.m. opportunity to repeat as Big West Tournament Champions for the first-time in program history 17 Tue. ^ Sun Bowl Tourney TBA 20 Fri. @ UIC (Chicago) 5 p.m. > UCI has one of the longest active road winning streaks among Division I men's basketball teams. The Anteaters have won nine- 28 Sat. Pacific 7 p.m. straight games on the road and have not lost since Dec. 29, 2018 at Pacific JANUARY th 4 Sat. @ Harvard 11:00 a.m. > UCI and USD match up for the 27 time in program history. The ‘Eaters trail the Toreros 12-14 in the all-time series 11 Sat. *Hawaii 7 p.m. > The teams last met on Dec. 3, 2011 as UCI earned a 99-79 victory at the Bren Events Center 15 Wed. @ *Cal State Fullerton 7 p.m. 18 Sat. *UC Riverside 7 p.m. > USD it coming off back-to-back 20 win seasons and went 21-15 last year making its first-ever appearance in the NIT. The 22 Wed. *@ LBSU 7 p.m. Toreros graduated 72% of its scoring from a year ago and only return four players. USD’s 14-man roster has nine freshmen or 25 Sat. *Cal Poly 7 p.m. sophomores 30 Thur. *@ UC Davis 7 p.m. FEBRUARY > USD’s head coach Sam Scholl is in his second season at the helm with a 23-17 overall record 1 Sat. *Cal State Fullerton 7 p.m. 6 Thur. *UC Davis 7 p.m. > This will mark the 23rd meeting between Pepperdine and UCI as the Waves hold a 12-10 advantage in the all-time series 8 Sat. *@ UC Santa Barbara 7 p.m. > The two teams last met at the Bren Events Center on Dec. 7, 2013 as UCI fell, 69-75. The ‘Eaters have lost three-straight to the 12 Wed. *@ UC Riverside 7 p.m. Waves with their last win on Dec. 21, 2009 (74-61) 15 Sat. *@ Hawaii 9 p.m. 19 Wed. *Long Beach State 7 p.m. > Pepperdine finished with a 16-18 overall record in 2018-19 and a WCC Tournament semifinal appearance 22 Sat. *@ CSUN 7 p.m. 27 Thur. *@ Cal Poly 7 p.m. > Lorenzo Romar enters his 5th overall season at Pepperdine and second straight with a 58-62 record over four seasons 29 Sat. *UC Santa Barbara 7 p.m. MARCH > The Waves return 10 letterwinners and 75% of their scoring including All-WCC first team selection Colbey Ross 4 Wed. *CSUN 7 p.m. 12 Thurs. & Big West Tournament TBA With a win Tuesday … UCI would win its season opener for the second-straight year 13 Fri. & Big West Tournament TBA With a win Saturday … UCI would extend its active road-winning streak to 11 games 14 Sat. & Big West Tournament TBA % MGM Grand Event—Las Vegas, Nev. PROBABLE STARTERS ^ Sun Bowl Tournament—El Paso, Texas No. Name Yr. Pos. Ht. PPG RPG Notes * Big West Conference game 55 Brad Greene RS-Jr. C 6-10 - - Redshirt in 2018-19 & at Honda Center - Anaheim, Calif. 14 Evan Leonard Sr. G 6-1 11.3 2.5 Returns as UCI’s leading scorer; two time All-Big West selection 11 John Edgar. Jr Sr. F 6-5 6.4 3.0 Started 11 games last season, averaged 20.1 min. per game Home games in bold played at Bren Events Center 24 Eyassu Worku Sr. G 6-2 7.0 2.9* Led UCI with 87 assists on the season All times listed are Pacific 42 Tommy Rutherford Sr. F 6-8 6.7 4.3 Two time All-Big West Team selection; first team in 2017-18 * Assists per game SERIES INFORMATION EXHIBITION EVALUATION > UCI passed its first test of the season defeating future Big West Conference opponent UCSD, 80-64 UC IRVINE VS. USD > Four Anteaters recorded double-digit points led by Evan Leonard (15 points) All-Time Series: USD leads, 12-14 > UCI shot 50% from three and 49.2 percent from the floor overall (30-61) Last 5 Meetings > UCI set a new student attendance record (2,308) Date Site Result 12-3-11 Irvine, Calif. W, 99-79 NEWS AND NOTES 12-1-10 San Diego, Calif. W, 90-82 > Head coach Russell Turner returns for his 10th season at the helm. Turner upped his career win total to 188 becoming the 11-25-07 Anaheim, Calif. L, 57-60 third coach in UCI history to eclipse 150 wins in a career, averaging over 20 wins a season. He trails to Anteater coaching th 11-16-03 Cincinnati, Ohio W, 65-50 great Pat Douglass (197 career wins) who reached the 150-win plateau in his 10 season. Turner is on pace to become 12-11-01 San Diego, Calif. L, 52-63 UCI’s all-time winningest coach this season > UCI plays 14 games at the Bren including three DI non-conference opponents Series by the Numbers > Six postseason teams dot the 2019-20 schedule including four 20+ win teams Record at UCI 6-4 Record at USD 3-8 > The Anteaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll with 258 points. UCI tied UCSB with 15 first-place Record at Neutral Site 3-2 votes Most Points - UCI 108 Most Points - USD 86 > Evan Leonard was selected to the six-member preseason all-conference team Largest Margin - UCI 20 Largest Margin - USD 21 > UCI returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last year’s championship team including seniors Evan Leonard, Longest UCI Win Streak 2 Eyassu Worku, Tommy Rutherford and John Edgar Jr. Longest USD Win Streak 8 Current Streak UCI won 2 > The Anteaters have amassed a 76-19 record at home over the last seven years > The ‘Eaters finished fourth in the nation allowing opponents to shoot just 38.2% from the field, ranked sixth in the nation in 2018-19 Comparative Team Stats total rebounds (1,478), 13th in rebound average (39.95) and ninth in rebound margin (7.0). UCI USD 31-6 Overall Record 21-15 > in 2018-19 UCI held teams under 50% in field goal percentage in 29 games, had the nation’s best two-point defense 15-1 Conference Record 7-9 (opponents shot 40.7%) and were 21st in points allowed (63.1) 72.3 Points/Game 72.0 63.6 Points Allowed/Game 68.2 > UCI went 14-0 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less and have won 25 straight games dating back to last season 39.9 Rebounds/Game 34.4 when hitting that mark. Since 2012-13, UCI is 93-5 when doing so +7.0 Rebounding Margin +2.5 45.7 FG Pct. 45.7 > UCI finished with the stingiest scoring defense in the conference allowing 63.6 points per game. UCI also led the 35.9 3-pt FG Pct. 35.1 conference in rebounding (39.95 rpg) for the sixth time in program history and five in the last six years years 70.2 FT Pct. 74.7 38.2 Opp FG Pct. 43.9 > The Anteaters return three all-conference selections in seniors Evan Leonard, Tommy Rutherford and Eyassu Worku 33.7 Opp 3-pt FG Pct. 33.0 > Leonard returns as the team’s leading scorer averaging 11.3 ppg last season. He is a two time all-conference selection 70.8 Opp FT Pct.