Sat October 11, 2008
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UC Irvine Hosts UCSB, Cal Poly This WeekendJan. 8, 2008
GAME #15: UC Irvine (5-9, 0-1) vs. UC Santa Barbara (12-3, 1-1) GAME #16: UC Irvine vs. Cal Poly UC Irvine opens its 2008 Big West Conference home schedule this week, facing league preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara Thursday and Cal Poly Saturday. The Anteaters have not played a home game since Dec. 15 as they are coming off a streak of five straight road contests. UCI is playing seven of its first 10 Big West games on the road. The Anteaters are 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the Big West following a 93-83 road loss to Cal State Fullerton last Friday night. Senior forward Patrick Sanders led UCI with a career-high 27 points. Senior center Darren Fells added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds while junior guard Brett Lauer scored 12 points, hitting 4 of 8 threes in the second half, and junior forward Kevin Bland had 11 points and three assists. UCI hit 10 of 19 threes in the game for 52.6 percent and the Titans converted 13 of 21 from beyond the arc for 61.9 percent. 'EATER NOTES ► UCI's nine losses this season have come against teams with a combined winning percentage of .680 (85-40) entering the week. Texas A&M is 14-1 and Sam Houston State is 12-1 with the second-longest, non-conference home winning streak (44) in the nation. The Anteaters, according to the Jan. 8 Sagarin ratings, have the 38th-toughest schedule in the nation of the 328 Division I teams. ► Senior center Darren Fells leads the Big West Conference in field-goal percentage at .622. That percentage ranks 17th nationally entering the week. He has shot 65.4 percent (51 of 78) over the past seven contests. He has averaged 19.8 points over the past four games. Fells has 963 points and 609 rebounds in his career as he is on target to become the 11th player in UCI history to record 1,000 points and 600 rebounds. Fells ranks 11th at UCI in career rebounds with 609. He is two boards behind No. 10 Ricky Butler and five away from Nos. 8 Jeff Von Lutzow and Jerry Maras. Fells is eighth in the league in scoring average (14.4) and fifth in steals per game (1.58). He has scored in double figures in 10 of the 12 games he has played in this season. ► Senior forward Patrick Sanders has averaged 17.3 points over the last seven games after scoring a career-high 27 points at Cal State Fullerton last Friday. Sanders ranks seventh in the Big West in scoring average (14.6). In his UCI career, he has 842 points and 388 rebounds. ► Junior forward Kevin Bland is first in the Big West in steals with an average of 2.00 per game and he ranks ninth in rebounding with a 5.8 average. ► Junior guard Brett Lauer ranks sixth in the Big West in three-point field goal percentage at .453. ► UCI ranks second in the Big West Conference in assist/turnover ratio at 0.97. ► The Anteaters are averaging 8.1 steals per game to the opposition's 6.4. UCI averaged 4.4 steals per game last season. ► UCI is averaging 13.1 turnovers per game, which ranks 42nd nationally (of 328 teams) for the fewest per game. ► UC Irvine is 153-119 all-time in the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters have won 71 of their last 93 games (.763) in the Bren dating back to February 2000. ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA: Coach Bob Williams' Gauchos are 12-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big West. UCSB split at home this past week, defeating Long Beach State, 79-64, and losing to Cal State Northridge, 88-84. UCSB is rated No. 6 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major 25 poll. Senior guard Alex Harris leads the Gauchos and the Big West in scoring at 22.1 points per game. Junior forward Chris Devine is averaging 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and is shooting 53.1 percent from the field. Sophomore guard James Powell is averaging 11.0 points. UCSB leads the Big West in scoring defense (65.3), free-throw percentage (.782) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.303). The Gauchos won both regular-season meetings last season before the Anteaters recorded a 70-52 win in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. UCSB has won nine of the last 12 games in the series. ABOUT CAL POLY: Coach Kevin Bromley's Mustangs are 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the Big West entering a Thursday night game at Cal State Fullerton. Cal Poly split at home last week, losing to Cal State Northridge, 80-59, and defeating Long Beach State, 64-52. Junior guard Trae Clark leads Cal Poly with a 9.3 scoring average and sophomore guard Lorenzo Keeler is averaging 9.2 points. Keeler is second in the Big West in free-throw percentage at .867 and senior forward Dreshawn Vance is second in blocked shots at 1.36 per contest. The Anteaters and Mustangs split last season as UCI won 66-62 at the Bren Center and Cal Poly 89-80 in San Luis Obispo. UCI has won four of the last six games in the series. |
