UC Irvine Faces Titans, Mustangs on Road This Week
UC IRVINE GAME #24
UC Irvine (9-14, 5-5) vs. Cal State Fullerton (15-7, 7-3)
Thursday, February 9, 2012 – 7:05 p.m.
Titan Gym (4,000) – Fullerton, Calif.
Series Record: CSF leads 51-42
Last Meeting: CSF won 92-84 (1/21/12 in Irvine)
Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 18th Season, & Steve Henkle)
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UC IRVINE GOES ON ROAD FOR PAIR: UC Irvine goes on the road for two Big West Conference games this week, traveling to Cal State Fullerton Thursday night and Cal Poly Saturday evening. Thursday marks the 94th meeting in the series between the 'Eaters and Titans.
Coach Russell Turner's UCI squad, 9-14 overall and 5-5 in the Big West, is tied for fourth place in the conference with UC Riverside and Pacific. The 'Eaters play four of their last six Big West games on the road.
The 'Eaters closed a five-game homestand with a split last weekend, defeating UC Davis, 68-61, last Thursday and falling to Pacific, 72-64, Saturday.
UCI had five players score in double figures in the loss to Pacific, led by junior forward Michael Wilder with 12. UCI tied its season low with eight turnovers in the game.
Junior guard Daman Starring averaged 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals in the two games last week.
Starring and Wilder are tied for the UCI scoring lead with 11.6 averages.
WILDER 9TH IN CAREER THREES: Junior forward Michael Wilder ranks ninth in career threes at UCI with 130, two treys behind No. 8 Rod Palmer (132). Michael Hunter (2007-10) is UCI's career leader with 236.
Wilder has 661 points and 351 rebounds in 80 career games at UCI.
UC IRVINE PLAYER NOTES
■ Junior guard DAMAN STARRING is tied with Michael Wilder for the UCI scoring lead at 11.6 points per game. He had a career-high four steals, tied his career high with six assists, and added 13 points and six rebounds in last Thursday night's 68-61 win over UC Davis. He has 21 assists in the past five games.
He leads the 'Eaters with 16 games in twin-digit scoring this season. Starring scored a UCI career-high 23 points in the 92-84 loss to Cal State Fullerton Jan. 21. Starring was 6 of 9 from three-point range in that game and he tied his career high with six assists.
He scored his original UCI career-high of 21 points against Alaska-Anchorage and Weber State in November and averaged 18.7 points in three games at the Great Alaska Shootout in late November. Starring scored 27 points as a freshman at Centenary (La.) College in the 2009-10 season.
In Big West games only, Starring ranks fifth in steals (1.50) and sixth in assists (3.50). He ranks seventh in steals for all games (1.26 per game) and 12th in scoring (11.6).
■ Junior forward MICHAEL WILDER is also averaging 11.6 points per game, scoring a season-high 20 in the Jan. 7 win at UC Davis for the third 20-point game of his career. He has scored in double figures 14 times this season, including eight of the last nine games.
Wilder, who ranks ninth all-time at UCI with 130 threes, tied his career high with six threes in the Jan. 7 win at UC Davis and hit five each against LSU and Central Michigan.
For all games, he ranks third in the Big West in three-point field goals made at 2.43 per game, which ranks 73rd in the nation entering the week. In league games only, he ranks third in three-point field goals made per game at 2.50 and eighth in free-throw percentage (.789).
■ Junior point guard DERICK FLOWERS scored 17 points in the Jan. 28 Homecoming win over UC Riverside for his third-highest output as an Anteater. Flowers, who has started the last 14 games, scored 18 points in the Jan. 21 loss to Fullerton and snared a career-high five rebounds.
Flowers scored a career-high 21 points in the 71-52 win at Cal State Northridge Dec. 29 and was named Big West Player of the Week following that performance.
Flowers is third in the Big West in assists for league games only at 3.80 per contest. He ranks fourth in free-throw percentage (.829) and eighth in three-point field-goal percentage (.432).
■ Junior center ADAM FOLKER, who has averaged 9.5 rebounds in the last four games, scored 11 points in each of the two games last week. He pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds (seven offensive) in the Jan. 24 win over Seattle University. Forty-one percent of his rebounds this season are off the offensive glass.
He recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Jan. 5 win at Pacific. He scored seven straight UCI points from the 4:34 mark to 1:05 when he converted the game-winning basket in the win at Pacific.
In conference games only, he ranks sixth in the Big West in rebounding at 6.8 per contest and also sixth in offensive rebounds (2.50 per game). For all games, he ranks sixth in offensive rebounds at 2.52 per contest and seventh in rebounding (6.1).
■ Sophomore guard CHRIS McNEALY scored 16 points in last Thursday's win over UC Davis, tying his second-highest output at UCI. He scored a career-high 17 points in the Jan. 7 win at UC Davis, hitting a career-best 5 of 6 threes.
McNealy ranks eighth in the Big West in assists at 3.09 per game for all contests and he is ninth in league games only at 3.10. He recorded a career-high seven assists in the Dec. 20 loss at UCLA and had six in the Dec. 29 win at Cal State Northridge.
He recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the 78-67 loss to Southern Miss at the Great Alaska Shootout Nov. 24.
■ Freshman post WILL DAVIS II, who has 14 blocked shots in the last four games, recorded his second double-double of the season with a career-high 21 points along with 10 boards in the Jan. 24 victory over Seattle University. He also had a career-best and school-record seven blocked shots, breaking the previous UCI mark of six set by Jeff Von Lutzow vs. Bradley (12/1/90).
In Big West games only, he ranks third in blocked shots at 1.90 per game. For all games, Davis is fourth in the Big West in blocked shots at 1.52 per game, ninth in offensive rebounds at 2.13 per contest and 10th in rebounding with a 5.7 average.
■ Freshman center MIKE BEST tied his career high with four rebounds in last Saturday's loss to Pacific.
He scored 14 points in 17 reserve minutes at Pacific Jan. 5, hitting 6 of 9 shots. He hit both of his three-point attempts and added two blocked shots. Best scored a career-high 17 points, hitting 8 of 10 shots, in 18 reserve minutes versus Hope International Dec. 22.
He had a season-high four blocked shots in the Nov. 19 loss to Weber State and recorded three in the Jan. 12 loss to Cal Poly. Best ranks 10th in the Big West at 0.71 blocked shots per game.
■ Freshman forward TRAVIS SOUZA hit two threes for six points in last Thursday's win over UC Davis for his second-best output as an Anteater. He recorded a career-high 15 points and three rebounds in 19 reserve minutes during the Jan. 14 loss at UCSB, hitting 5 of 7 threes.
He had a career-high four rebounds and three assists in the Jan. 24 win over Seattle University.
■ Freshman guard COLLIN WOODS tied his career high with nine points in the Jan. 5 win at Pacific, hitting 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Woods first scored nine points against Central Michigan at the Great Alaska Shootout Nov. 25.
■ Freshman forward MARCUS BRADLEY pulled down a career-high four rebounds in the Dec. 22 win over Hope International.
He scored a season-high six points in the 77-56 loss at Cal Nov. 11 to open the season.
■ Freshman guard AARON WRIGHT is sidelined with a right-knee injury sustained midway through the second half of the Dec. 13 loss at Wyoming. He had started five straight games prior to his injury.
IN THE BIG WEST STATS: UCI ranks second in the Big West in assists at 15.04 per game and in rebounding (38.3), and third in field-goal percentage defense (.410), three-point field goals made (7.74) and blocks (3.91).
In conference games only, UCI ranks second in three-point field goals made per game (8.60), rebounding (36.1) and assists at 15.50 per game.
IN THE NCAA STATS: Of 338 NCAA Division I teams through Thursday's games, UCI ranks 39th in assists at 15.04 per game and 51st in three-point field goals per game (7.74).
ABOUT CAL STATE FULLERTON: Ninth-year head coach Bob Burton's Titans are 15-7 overall and 7-3 for second place in the Big West, winning five of their last six games.
Fullerton is 9-1 at home this season. Junior guard D.J. Seeley leads the Titans in scoring at 16.5 points per game, followed by junior guard Kwame Vaughn (16.2) and sophomore guard Isiah Umipig (13.0). Vaughn was named Big West Player of the Week after scoring 37 points in last Saturday's win over UC Santa Barbara.
UCI last won at Titan Gym Mar. 7, 2009 (65-62) but the 'Eaters have lost four of the last five in the venue.
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