Fri July 25, 2008
|
|
UC Irvine Travels to UC Riverside, Hosts IdahoFeb. 18, 2008 Complete Release in PDF Format
GAME #25: GAME #26: LAST ROAD GAME OF SEASON WEDNESDAY: UC Irvine travels to UC Riverside for a Big West Conference game Wednesday night in the Anteaters' final road contest of the regular season. UCI has five consecutive home games starting Saturday night with a non-conference contest against Idaho as part of O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters Weekend. The Vandals were members of the Big West until departing for the WAC after the 2004-05 season. COACH DOUGLASS SETS UCI RECORD: UCI head coach Pat Douglass became the career wins' leader in Anteater men's basketball coaching history with a 74-59 victory over Pacific, his alma mater, last Thursday. Douglass enters the UC Riverside game with a UCI career mark of 164-151 while Mulligan was 163-156 in his 11 seasons (1980-91). FELLS 1ST IN BIG WEST, 21ST IN NATION: Senior center Darren Fells ranks first in the Big West and 21st in the nation in field-goal percentage at .592. Fells also leads the conference in offensive rebounds with a 2.77 average for all games and 3.55 in league contests. He ranks fifth in the Big West in rebounding for all games with a 6.6 average and he is sixth in steals at 1.59 per game. Fells' 14.3 scoring average for all games ranks ninth in the conference. Fells, who has 21 double-figure rebounding games in his career, has five double-doubles this season and 14 in his career. He had 23 points and 11 rebounds in last Thursday's 74-59 win over Pacific. Fells has recorded 23 boards in the last two games. He is the 11th player in UCI history to record 1,000 points and 600 rebounds as he enters the week with 1,104 points and 695 boards. He ranks sixth in career rebounds at UCI, three behind No. 5 Wayne Engelstad, and 16th in career points, 41 behind No. 15 Bill Moore. UCI CAREER SCORING UCI CAREER REBOUNDING SANDERS LEADS BIG WEST IN 3-POINT PERCENTAGE: Senior forward Patrick Sanders leads the Big West Conference in three-point field goal percentage at .483 for all games. He is averaging 18.4 points in Big West play to rank third in the conference. His overall scoring average of 15.7 ranks fifth in the league and he ranks ninth in free-throw percentage at .807 for all games. He has scored in double figures each of his last 15 games and 21 of the 23 games he has played in this season. In his last three games, Sanders has averaged 19.3 points while shooting 55 percent from the field (7 of 11 on threes) and hitting 19 of 21 free throws. In his UCI career, Sanders has 999 points and 428 rebounds. He is on pace to join Darren Fells as the second Anteater player this season to reach 1,000 career points. THE McINTOSH IMPACT: Senior guard Marcus McIntosh has started the last four games, in which UCI has gone 3-1 (losing at Cal Poly by one point). He has 13 assists and 12 steals in those four games. McIntosh has averaged 15.0 points over the last two games. `EATERS RANK 1ST IN SCORING DEFENSE FOR LEAGUE GAMES: UCI ranks No. 1 in the Big West with a 63.9 scoring defense in league games. The Anteaters have held the opposition to an average of 57.7 points in the last seven games. Nationally, the Anteaters are 29th (of 328 teams) in fewest turnovers per game at 12.6 and 36th in free-throw percentage at .739. IN THE BREN: UC Irvine is 7-0 this season in the Bren Events Center and 157-119 all-time. The Anteaters have won 75 of their last 97 games (.773) in the Bren dating back to February 2000. WILD FINISH APPEARS IMMINENT: The race for seeds in the Big West Conference Tournament should prove interesting over the final three weeks of the regular season. The Anteaters are 1 ½ games out of third place and play four of their last five Big West games at home. UCI is 8-0 in on-campus games this season, including a Nov. 9 win over Loyola Marymount at Crawford Court. The Anteaters are 3-13 away from Irvine, including a Nov. 13 "home" loss to Nevada at the Anaheim Convention Center, but have won two of their last three road games. MARCH 1 TIPOFF TIME IS 8:35 P.M.: UCI's Homecoming game against Cal State Northridge Mar. 1 will now tip at 8:35 p.m. and be televised on Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket. COX3 TO TELEVISE MARCH 8 GAME: Cox3 Sports has picked up television coverage of UCI's Mar. 8 game against Cal State Fullerton with a 7:05 p.m. start. 1-2 PUNCH OF SANDERS, FELLS: Seniors Patrick Sanders and Darren Fells have demonstrated a solid 1-2 combination in conference play this season. The two have combined to average 32.7 points and 13.2 rebounds, shooting 50.4 percent from the field (20 of 38 on threes) and 83 percent from the foul line (87 of 105). In league games, Sanders ranks third in scoring (18.4) and three-point field goal percentage (.543), seventh in free-throw percentage (.860), ninth in field-goal percentage (.473), 10th in three-point field goals made per game (1.90) and 14th in rebounding (4.7). Sanders has made 27 of 30 free throws in his last five games and 11 of 19 threes. Fells is second in rebounding (8.5), fourth in field-goal percentage (.544), seventh in steals (1.55) and 10th in scoring (14.3). ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE: Coach Jim Wooldridge's Highlanders are 5-17 overall and 2-9 in the Big West. UCR played Cal State Northridge tough for the second time this season last week before the Matadors pulled out a 73-61 win. Senior guard Larry Cunningham, who leads the Highlanders in scoring with a 14.8 average, scored a game-high 22 points versus CSUN. Juniors Christian Soto and Aaron Scott added 13 points apiece. UCI, which leads the UCR series 26-16, topped the Highlanders 67-53 at the Bren Center Jan. 26. Patrick Sanders led the Anteaters with 21 points while Cunningham scored 12 for UCR. UCI has won the past seven meetings against the Highlanders. ABOUT IDAHO: Coach George Pfeifer's Vandals are 6-18 overall and 3-10 in the WAC. Idaho split a pair of home games last week, defeating Fresno State, 79-74 in overtime, and losing to Nevada, 85-72. Junior forward Jordan Brooks leads the Vandals in scoring and rebounding with averages of 12.9 points and 6.1 boards. UCI leads the series 14-4, defeating the Vandals, 80-67, in the last meeting Mar. 9, 2005 in the first round of the Big West Tournament. Aaron Fitzgerald led the Anteaters with 30 points, the last time a UCI player reached that plateau. UCI has won the last four meetings with Idaho. |
