Jan. 29, 2010

Game #22

UC Irvine (9-12, 3-6) vs. Cal State Fullerton (9-10, 3-4)
Saturday, January 30, 2010 - 5:05 p.m.
Titan Gym (4,000) - Fullerton, Calif.

Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads 47-41
Last Meeting: UCI won 65-62 (3/7/09 in Fullerton)

Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 16th season)

UCI FACES TITANS SATURDAY: UC Irvine travels to Cal State Fullerton Saturday for the Titans' Homecoming game at 5:05 p.m.

This marks the 89th meeting in the series with Fullerton holding a 47-41 lead. The Anteaters swept last season's two meetings and have won three of the last five games at Titan Gym.

UCI has lost five of its last six games, including 61-50 to league-leading Pacific Thursday night. The Anteaters are 3-8 away from the Bren Center this season, including 1-3 in Big West games.

HOME & HOME WITH BAKERSFIELD NEXT WEEK: UCI faces Cal State Bakersfield in a pair of non-conference games next week.

The `Eaters and Roadrunners meet in Bakersfield Wednesday (Feb. 3) and at the Bren Center next Saturday (Feb. 6) at 7:35 p.m.

BRACKETBUSTER PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED MONDAY: The matchups for BracketBusters will be announced Monday. UCI is a home team this year, as is Fullerton.

UCI is 3-2 in previous BracketBuster games, winning at Hawai'i, 76-70, last Feb. 21.

`EATER NOTES

HUNTER TOP 10 IN 3 CATEGORIES: Senior guard Michael Hunter ranks in the top 10 of three UC Irvine career categories.

He is second in three-point field goals (209), third in steals (150) and 10th in assists (272).

Ross Schraeder (2002-06) is the UCI leader in threes with 233 and Jeff Gloger (2002-05) tops the career list with 167 steals.

UCI CAREER STEALS
167 Jeff Gloger, 2002-05
162 Jerry Green, 1998-2002
150 Michael Hunter, 2006-present

UCI CAREER ASSISTS
475 Raimonds Miglinieks, 1994-96
426 Ben McDonald, 1980-84
412 Jerry Green, 1998-2002

272 Michael Hunter, 2006-present

MOVING UP THE SCORING LIST: Hunter is 16th at UCI with 1,163 career points, 49 behind No. 15 Jerry Maras (1,212). Hunter needs 89 more points to crack UCI's career top 10 in scoring.

BIG WEST LEADER IN FREE-THROW SHOOTING: Hunter ranks first in the Big West in free-throw percentage (.882), second in three-point field goals made per game (2.5), fifth in steals (1.5) and 11th in scoring (14.1).

WISE OUT OF THE GATE FAST: Sophomore forward Eric Wise, who is averaging 15.7 points and 5.8 rebounds this season, has accumulated 764 points and 306 rebounds in his young career.

In the Jan. 21 win over Long Beach State, Wise had an impressive line of 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and a career-high four blocked shots.

He was named the Big West Player of the Week two consecutive weeks (Dec. 28 and Jan. 4). He has scored at least 20 points 13 times in his career and he has 40 double-digit performances in 52 career games.

His 31 points in the 78-68 loss at San Jose State Dec. 28 marked the first 30-point game by an Anteater player in nearly five years. Aaron Fitzgerald scored 30 points in an 80-67 win over Idaho in the Big West Tournament Mar. 9, 2005.

He ranks fourth in the Big West in assist/turnover ratio (1.6), fourth in assists (3.3), fifth in scoring (15.7), and 10th in rebounding (5.8). He has 18 assists in the last four games.

Wise was selected to the media's preseason All-Big West team. He averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds last season when he was named to the All-Big West Second and Freshman teams.

His father, Francois Wise, is a former All-American player at Long Beach State and his uncle, Willie Wise, was a standout in the ABA in the 1970s.

FOLKER ON-BOARD: Sophomore forward Adam Folker has started the last seven games and has at least five rebounds in eight of the last 10 games.

He scored a career-high 14 points in the Jan. 21 win over Long Beach State and had a career-high 14 boards in the Jan. 2 victory over UC Santa Barbara.

RAMBO IN CONTROL: Junior guard Patrick Rembert has 11 assists and no turnovers in the last four games, covering 112 minutes of playing time.

MOORE LIFTS SCORING: Junior guard Darren Moore has averaged 12.0 points in the last four games. He scored a career-high 18 points in the Jan. 16 loss at Pacific and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds in the Jan. 21 win over Long Beach State. He has 19 boards in the last three games.

ATKINSON LEADS LEAGUE IN BLOCKED SHOTS: Senior center Zack Atkinson leads the Big West in blocked shots with 23 for a 1.2 average per game.

LALEHZADEH MAKES 1ST START: Sophomore walk-on guard Jonas Lalehzadeh made his first UCI start Thursday night against Pacific, hitting both of his field-goal attempts for a career-high four points.

UCI IN THE BIG WEST STATS: UC Irvine ranks second in the Big West Conference in free-throw percentage (.725), turnover margin (+1.62) and assist-turnover ratio (1.07).

IN THE NCAA STATS: As of Friday, UCI is 48th nationally (of 334 ranked) in fewest turnovers per game (12.2) and 57th in free-throw percentage (.725).

SINGLE-DIGIT TURNOVERS: UCI committed just seven turnovers versus Pacific Thursday and has five games of single-digit miscues this season.

ABOUT CAL STATE FULLERTON: Seventh-year head coach Bob Burton's Titans are 9-10 overall following a 92-84, overtime win at Cal State Bakersfield Tuesday night. The Titans are 3-4 in Big West play.

Senior guard Aaron Thompson is averaging 11.5 points, junior forward Jer'Vaughn Johnson 11.2 points and a team-leading 6.1 boards, and sophomore guard Jacques Streeter is averaging 10.4 points and 4.5 assists. Thompson, Johnson and Gerard Anderson each recorded a double-double in the win at Bakersfield. Junior guard Devon Peltier has a 10.4 scoring average off the bench.