2018-19 UC IRVINE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL @UCImbb /UCIMBB 2020-21 MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES @UCIMBB MEDIA RELATIONS : Sarah Zetlmeisl // PHONE: (949) 824-8934 // EMAIL: [email protected] // UC IRVINE VS LA SIERRA Audio KUCI.org/AM830 WEDNESDAY, DEC 2 | 6:00 PM PT | IRVINE, CALIF. | BREN EVENTS CENTER Live Stats ucirvinesports.com 2020-21 Schedule TV BigWest.TV 2020-21 Overall Record 0-0 All-Time Series N/A Overall: 1-2 | Home: 1-0 | Away: 0-1 | Neutral: 0-1 2020-21 CAL-PAC Record 0-0 Head Coach John Janssen (2nd season) Streak N/A Big West: 0-0 Record at La Sierra 6-24 Last Meeting N/A NOVEMBER 25 Wed. % vs. Pepperdine L, 86-72 OPENING TIPS 27 Fri. % at San Diego State L, 77-58 > The Anteaters opened the season with a 1-2 record. UCI dropped games against Pepperdine and San 28 Sat. Bethesda (Calif.) W, 135-55 Diego State at the SDSU MTE before earning a record-setting 135-55 win over Bethesda at home. DECEMBER > UCI won its home opener for the fourth year in a row. The Anteaters are 7-4 in home openers under head 2 Wed. La Sierra 6 p.m. coach Russell Turner 27 Fri. *UC Santa Barbara TBA > The ‘Eaters win over Bethesda set school records for most points scored (135), field goals made (56) and 28 Sat. *UC Santa Barbara TBA JANUARY assists (31). UCI’s 80-point margin of victory set a school and Big West record. The ‘Eaters also set Bren 1 Fri. @*CSUN TBA Events Center records in first half points scored (70) and field goal percentage (.691) 2 Sat. @*CSUN TBA > UCI’s returning leading scorer Collin Welp started 2020-21 where he left off, the junior is only Anteater to 8 Fri. *UC Davis TBA score in double-digits in all three games so far. He is averaging 11.0 ppg. 9 Sat. *UC Davis TBA > Brad Greene became the 24th Anteater in history to reach 500 career rebounds after finishing with eight 22 Fri. *Cal Poly TBA at SDSU. He now sits at 512 career boards which puts him at 23rd all-time, surpassing now assistant coach 23 Sat. *Cal Poly TBA Alex Young (504) 29 Fri. @*Hawaii TBA > Dawson Baker has had a strong start for UCI, finishing in double-digit scoring in his first two games, with 30 Sat. @*Hawaii TBA 13 points vs. Pepperdine and 10 points at SDSU. He is averaging 8.3 ppg FEBRUARY > Greene led the ‘Eaters in scoring in the first two games, grabbing a career-high 20 points against 5 Fri. *CS Bakersfield TBA 6 Sat. *CS Bakersfield TBA Pepperdine and following that up with 11 points at SDSU. He is averaging a team-best 12.7 ppg. 12 Fri. @*UC Riverside TBA > Sophomore Austin Johnson and RS freshman Emmanuel Tshimanga both posted their first career 13 Sat. @*UC Riverside TBA double-doubles against Bethesda. Johnson finished the night with a game-high 20 points and career-high 19 Fri. @* CS Fullerton TBA 16 rebounds while Tshimanga grabbed 12 points and 11 rebounds. 20 Sat. @*CS Fullerton TBA > Last season, the Anteaters won their fifth Big West regular season title in seven seasons and eighth in 26 Fri. *UC San Diego TBA program history. It was also the first time in history UCI won back-to-back outright titles. The ‘Eaters did so 27 Sat. *UC San Diego TBA with a 13-3 conference record, winning three more games than second place UCSB. MARCH > The 2020-21 Anteaters have the second youngest team (Navy is first with 19 underclassman) in the 5 Fri. @*Long Beach State TBA NCAA with 13 underclassman and just two upperclassman. UCI is also tied with Auburn for the least 6 Sat. @*Long Beach State TBA number of upperclassman on the roster (2). 10 Wed. &Big West Tournament TBA 11 Thurs. &Big West Tournament TBA th 12 Fri. &Big West Tournament TBA With a win Wednesday … 11 year head coach Russell Turner will tie Long Beach St. head coach Dan 13 Sat. &Big West Tournament TBA Monson for the most active career wins in the Big West with win No. 211 and he will do so in three fewer years than Monson … UCI will improve to 89-21 at home in the last eight years % SDSU MTE at San Diego, Calif. * Big West Conference game ‘EATERS SAIL OVER BETHESDA, 135-55 & at Honda Center - Anaheim, Calif. > Seven Anteaters scored in double-digits in UCI’s 135-55 win over Bethesda, an NCCAA school > Several ‘Eaters hit career highs including Johnson (16 rebounds), DJ Davis (18 points) Andre Henry (17 Home games in bold played at Bren Events Center points), JC Butler (14 points), Jeron Artest (13 points), Tshimanga (13 points) All times listed are Pacific > Ofure Ujadughele (8 points), Hunter Ruck (5 points) and Jayce Catchings (4 points) all scored their first career points for UCI PROBABLE STARTERS No. Name Yr. Pos. Ht. PPG RPG Notes 55 Brad Greene Sr. C 6-11 12.7 7.3 Big West Honorable Mention in 2019-20, led BWC in rebounding 40 Collin Welp Jr. F 6-9 11.0 5.3 All-Big West first team selection & Sixth Man of the Year (2019-20) 0 JC Butler So. F 6-5 7.3 2.0 Redshirt in 19-20; played in 2 NCAA Tourney games in 18-19 15 Jeron Artest So. G 6-3 6.0 2.3 Played in all 32 games as a freshman with 3 starts 5 Isaiah Lee So. G 6-2 2.0 4.0* Played in all games in 2019-20; career-high nine assists against Pacific Union * Assists per game 20202018-- 1921 UCUC IRVINEIRVINE WOMEN’SMEN’S BASKETBALL BASKETBALL ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES WINNING WAYS Head coach Russell Turner returns for his 11th season at the helm. Last season, Turner upped his career win > Wednesday’s game will mark the first game total to 209 becoming the winningest coach in program history and only UCI coach to reach 200 wins. He was of the season for La Sierra. The Eagles play named the Big West Coach of the Year for the fourth time in 2019 and led UCI to its fifth Big West regular for the NAIA’s Cal-Pac. La Sierra finished last season with a 6-24 overall record season title. He has averaged over 20 wins a season and has led UCI to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2015, 2019). > This will be the first ever meeting between the ‘Eaters and Golden Eagles NEWS AND NOTES > The Big West announced a modified conference schedule for the 2020-21 season. All 11 member institutions > John Janssen is in his second season as the head coach of La Sierra. will play 20 conference games under a modified format that will reduce travel and emphasize the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff. The traditional home-and-home round-robin schedule has been altered so that teams will play the same opponent on consecutive days at one site, with the majority of games taking place on Friday and Saturday. Each team will contest the schedule over an 11-week period with one bye week built in. Games will not be rescheduled should a team need to quarantine during the season. > For the fourth-straight season, the Anteaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll with 270 points. UCI earned 18 first-place votes while the second place Gauchos earned nine. > Collin Welp was selected to the six-member preseason all-conference team > UCI returns one starter, Brad Greene, from last year’s championship team. The roster features only two upperclassman (Greene and Collin Welp) and 13 underclassman including five freshman. > The Anteaters have amassed a 88-21 record at home over the last eight years > Last season, UCI ranked 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.388), 11th in total rebounds (1,269) and 22nd in rebound average (39.66) > The Anteaters also ranked third nationally in rebound margin (9.4) and 18th in defensive rebounds (28.16) > UCI returns 53 percent of its scoring offense and two All-Conference players (Welp and Greene) > The Anteaters held opposing teams under 60 points eight times last season, including five times in conference play > Brad Greene set a Bren Events Center record last season against Hawai’i (Jan. 11) when he pulled down 21 rebounds. It was the ninth time in UCI history and Anteater grabbed 20+ boards. Greene led the ‘Eaters in rebounding a team-best 15 times and had 10 games with 10+ rebounds. He led the Big West in rebounds per game (7.7), total rebounds (246) and was second in blocks per game (1.4). > Welp returns as the team's leading scorer averaging 13.0 ppg last season. He was named the 2019 Big West Sixth Man of the Year and was also a first team all-conference selection. He came off the bench and averaged just 23.4 minutes per game. Welp also ranked second in the Big West in three-point field goal percentage (.442) and averaged 5.9 rebounds per game > Austin Johnson will add to UCI’s formidable front court. As a freshman, he averaged 3.3 rebounds per game and 4.2 points per game. He also was second on the team with 30 blocks (.94 bpg). > JC Butler will return to the court after using a redshirt year in 2019-20. In 2018-19, Butler played in both NCAA Tournament games and averaged 8.7 mpg, 1.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg.