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Men's Basketball:
UC Irvine Hosts Cal State Bakersfield Saturday Night
Feb. 5, 2010 Game #24 UC Irvine (9-14) vs. Cal State Bakersfield (5-16) Series Record: Tied 2-2 Radio: KUCI/88.9 FM (Mark Roberts, 16th season) WE MEET AGAIN: UCI faces Cal State Bakersfield Saturday night in the Bren Center in the second non-conference meeting of the week between the teams. The Roadrunners won the first game of the week with a 68-55 victory at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield Wednesday night. Trent Blakley led the `Runners with a game-high 20 points. Santwon Latunde recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 11 of 12 free throws. Stephon Carter had 12 points, eight boards and four assists. Eric Wise was the lone UCI player to score in double figures with 18 points and he added five rebounds and two assists. Jonas Lalehzadeh, in his third start, registered a career-high eight points and six rebounds. Derrick Strings also scored eight points and had five boards. TOUGH SLIDE: The `Eaters have lost their last four games and seven of the past eight. BACK TO THE BIG WEST NEXT WEEK: UCI resumes Big West Conference play next week, hosting Cal State Fullerton Wednesday night at 7:05 in the Bren Center. The `Eaters host UC Davis next Saturday night at 7:05. IN THE BREN: UCI is 6-4 at home this season and 172-131 all-time in the Bren Center. The `Eaters have won 91 of their last 125 games (.728) in the Bren dating back to February 2000.
MARIST IS BRACKETBUSTER FOE: UCI will host Marist Feb. 20 at 4:00 p.m. in the Bren Center as part of the BracketBusters series. This will be the first meeting between the programs. As part of the series, UCI must return the game next season. `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 (214), third in steals (153) and 10th in assists (275). 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 275 Michael Hunter, 2006-present MOVING UP THE SCORING LIST: Hunter is 16th at UCI with 1,182 career points, 30 behind No. 15 Jerry Maras (1,212). Hunter needs 70 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), third in three-point field goals made per game (2.52), fifth in steals (1.52) and 10th in scoring (13.7). WISE FOR HIS AGE: Sophomore forward Eric Wise, who is averaging 15.7 points and 6.0 rebounds this season, has accumulated 796 points and 324 rebounds in his young career. He ranks fourth in the Big West in assists (3.26) and assist/turnover ratio (1.60), fifth in scoring (15.7), and ninth in rebounding (6.0). Wise had his first double-double of the season (and third of his career) with 14 points and 13 rebounds in last 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 41 double-digit performances in 53 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. LALEHZADEH FOR STARTERS: Sophomore walk-on Jonas Lalehazadeh has started the last three games, averaging 6.0 points in that span. He recorded career highs of eight points and six rebounds at Bakersfield Wednesday. FOLKER ON-BOARD: Sophomore forward Adam Folker has started the last nine games and has at least five rebounds in nine of the last 12 games. His 6.3 rebounding average in league games ranks ninth 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 seven games, covering 171 minutes of playing time. DARREN LOOKING FOR MOORE: Junior guard Darren Moore, despite scoring just four points at Bakersfield Wednesday, has averaged 10.8 points in the last six 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 ranks fifth in the Big West in free-throw percentage (.747) and ninth in steals (1.22). ATKINSON EMERGES: Senior center Zack Atkinson scored six points and tied his career high with two assists at Bakersfield Wednesday. He collected six rebounds at Fullerton last Saturday, his most since the UC Davis game Jan. 14 when he also snared six boards. Atkinson leads the Big West in blocked shots with 25 for a 1.19 average. PLAYING THE STRINGS: Sophomore guard Derrick Strings hit 2 of 5 threes and scored eight points at Bakersfield Wednesday. He added a season-high five rebounds in 17 minutes. ABOUT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: Fifth-year head coach Keith Brown's Roadrunners are 5-16 following Wednesday's 68-55 home win over UCI. Senior forward Trent Blakley leads the `Runners with a 15.9 scoring average. Freshman guard Stephon Carter is averaging 12.6 points and leads the team with 61 assists. Senior forward Santwon Latunde is averaging 11.6 points and a team-leading 8.8 rebounds. |
