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Men's Basketball:
UCI Faces Cal State Bakersfield Twice This Week
Feb. 2, 2010 Game #23 UC Irvine (9-13) vs. Cal State Bakersfield (4-16) Series Record: UCI leads 2-1 Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 16th season) Game #24 UC Irvine vs. Cal State Bakersfield Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 16th season) HOME & HOME WITH BAKERSFIELD THIS WEEK: UCI faces Cal State Bakersfield in a pair of non-conference games this week. The `Eaters and Roadrunners meet in Bakersfield Wednesday (Feb. 3) at 7:00 p.m. and at the Bren Center Saturday (Feb. 6) at 7:35 p.m. Saturday's game is the second of a doubleheader that begins with a 5:00 p.m. meeting between the women's teams. UCI head coach Pat Douglass led the Bakersfield program for 10 seasons, guiding the Roadrunners to national titles in 1993, 1994 and 1997. FEBRUARY FORTUNES?: UCI is hoping for better results with the start of the new month after going 3-7 in January (all Big West games). The `Eaters have lost their last three games and six of the past seven. UCI is coming off a 74-68 defeat at Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. Michael Hunter led the `Eaters with 16 points (all in the second half) and Eric Wise recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
BILL MULLIGAN SERVICE SUNDAY: Former UCI men's basketball coach Bill Mulligan passed away Jan. 12 at the age of 79. He would have turned 80 in February. A memorial service is planned for this Sunday (Feb. 7) at 10:30 a.m. in the Bren Events Center. Mulligan served as the Anteaters' head coach for 11 seasons (1980-91), compiling a career record of 163-156. His first UCI team led the nation in scoring (86.4) and his second Anteater squad was No. 1 in the country in field-goal percentage (.561). Mulligan led UCI to NIT first-round road wins in 1982 (over San Diego State) and 1986 (over UCLA). MARIST IS BRACKETBUSTER FOE: UCI will host Marist Feb. 20 at the Bren Center as part of the BracketBusters series, announced by the Big West Conference Monday. The Red Foxes, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, are 1-21 overall and 1-11 in league play. This will be the first meeting between the programs. Game time on Feb. 20 will be 4:00 p.m. at the Bren Center. `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 (213), third in steals (151) 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 3-POINT FIELD GOALS UCI CAREER STEALS UCI CAREER ASSISTS 272 , 2006-present Michael Hunter MOVING UP THE SCORING LIST: Hunter is 16th at UCI with 1,179 career points, 33 behind No. 15 Jerry Maras (1,212). Hunter needs 73 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 (.887), second in three-point field goals made per game (2.59), fifth in steals (1.50) and ninth in scoring (14.2). WISE FOR HIS AGE: Sophomore forward Eric Wise, who is averaging 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds this season, has accumulated 778 points and 319 rebounds in his young career. He ranks fourth in the Big West in assists (3.32) and assist/turnover ratio (1.59), fifth in scoring (15.6), and ninth in rebounding (6.1). He has 22 assists in the last five games. Wise had his first double-double of the season (and third of his career) with 14 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's 74-68 loss at Fullerton. 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. 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. FOLKER ON-BOARD: Sophomore forward Adam Folker has started the last eight games and has at least five rebounds in nine of the last 11 games. His 6.3 rebounding average in league games ranks eighth in the Big West. 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 20 assists and just three turnovers in the last six games, covering 158 minutes of playing time. MOORE LIFTS SCORING: Junior guard Darren Moore has averaged 12.2 points in the last five 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 25 boards in the last four games. LALEHZADEH HITS CAREER HIGH: Sophomore wing Jonas Lalehzadeh scored a career-high six points in Saturday's loss at Fullerton. He hit 3 of 4 field goals and is 5 of 6 from the field in the last two games (his first UCI starts). ATKINSON EMERGES: Senior center Zack Atkinson collected six rebounds at Fullerton Saturday, his most since the UC Davis game Jan. 14 when he also snared six boards. He leads the Big West in blocked shots with 25 for a 1.5 average. ABOUT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: Fifth-year head coach Keith Brown's Roadrunners are 4-16 following a 57-53 win at Cal Poly Saturday. Senior forward Santwon Latunde led CSUB with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. He is averaging 11.3 points and a team-leading 8.7 rebounds. Senior forward Trent Blakley added 17 points at Cal Poly and leads the Runners with a 15.7 scoring average. Freshman guard Stephon Carter, who scored 16 points at Cal Poly, is averaging 12.7. |
