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Men's Basketball:
'Eaters Host 49ers, Matadors
Feb. 26, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
GAME #27: UC Irvine (12-14, 6-6) vs. Long Beach State (6-20, 3-9) GAME #28: (Homecoming) UC Irvine vs. Cal State Northridge UCI WITH FINAL FOUR AT HOME: UC Irvine begins the critical stretch run of four home games to end the regular season Thursday night with Long Beach State in a "Black & Blue Rivalry" game. Conference-leading Cal State Northridge arrives Saturday night for UCI's Homecoming game. UCI, which defeated Idaho 69-55 in a non-conference game last Saturday, is 9-0 in on-campus games this season, including a Nov. 9 win over Loyola Marymount at Crawford Court. The Anteaters, 8-0 in the Bren Center this year, have one "home" loss, a 77-68 setback to Nevada Nov. 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center. FELLS 1ST IN BIG WEST, 26TH IN NATION: Senior center Darren Fells ranks first in the Big West and 26th in the nation in field-goal percentage at .574. Fells also leads the conference in offensive rebounds with a 2.71 average for all games and 3.42 in league contests. He ranks fifth in the Big West in rebounding for all games with a 6.8 average and he is fourth in steals at 1.67 per game. Fells' 14.5 scoring average for all games ranks eighth in the conference. In last Saturday's win over Idaho, he recorded 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals. Fells, who has 21 double-figure rebounding games in his career, has five double-doubles this season and 14 in his career. Over the last nine games, Fells has converted 51 of 63 free throws (.810). He is just the fifth player in UCI history to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds as he enters the Long Beach game with 1,137 points and 712 boards. Fells ranks fifth at UCI in career rebounds, 11th in career steals and 16th in career points, eight behind No. 15 Bill Moore. UCI CAREER REBOUNDING UCI CAREER STEALS UCI CAREER SCORING SANDERS REACHES 1,000 CAREER POINTS: Senior forward Patrick Sanders became the 18th player in UCI history to score 1,000 career points in last Wednesday's loss to UC Riverside. He enters the Long Beach State game with 1,020 points after scoring 13 in Saturday's win over Idaho. Sanders leads the Big West Conference in three-point field goal percentage at .477 (31 of 65) for all games. He is averaging 17.5 points in Big West play to rank fourth in the conference. His overall scoring average of 15.3 ranks sixth in the league and he is also sixth in field-goal percentage (.473). Sanders ranks eighth in free-throw percentage at .817 for all games. THE McINTOSH IMPACT: Senior guard Marcus McIntosh has started the last six games, recording 16 assists and 16 steals in that span. He has averaged 9.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in those six starts. LAUER HITS CAREER HIGHS: Junior guard Brett Lauer scored a career-high 25 points, including 23 in the second half, at UC Riverside last Wednesday. He also hit a career-high seven threes in 10 attempts. The last UCI player to make at least seven triples in a game was Ross Schraeder, who was 8 of 13 in a 76-55 win at San Jose State Dec. 17, 2004. CAREER-HIGH 6 STEALS FOR HUNTER: Sophomore guard Michael Hunter recorded a career-high six steals along with 13 points and four assists in last Wednesday's loss at UC Riverside. He was 5 of 7 from the field. BLAND 9TH IN REBOUNDING: Junior forward Kevin Bland ranks ninth in the Big West in rebounding average (5.7) for all games. He snared seven boards versus Idaho before fouling out, his ninth disqualification of the season. FOR THE DEFENSE: Despite giving up 85 points at UC Riverside last Wednesday, UCI's defensive average over the last nine games is 60.4. IN THE BREN: UC Irvine is 8-0 this season in the Bren Events Center and 158-119 all-time. The Anteaters have won 76 of their last 98 games (.776) in the Bren dating back to February 2000. COACH DOUGLASS: Pat Douglass, in his 11th season as head coach at UC Irvine, passed Bill Mulligan Feb. 14 in the 74-59 win over Pacific for the most wins in Anteater men's basketball coaching history. Douglass enters the Long Beach State game with a UCI record of 165-152 while Mulligan posted a 163-156 mark in 11 seasons. ABOUT LBSU: Coach Dan Monson's 49ers are 6-20 overall and 3-9 in the Big West entering Thursday night's game. Junior guard Donovan Morris leads the Big West Conference in scoring with a 20.8 average. He scored 20 points in the 49ers' 70-48 loss to UCI at the Walter Pyramid Feb. 2. Long Beach State lost to Cal State Northridge, 82-78, last Wednesday and 80-48 at New Mexico State Saturday. ABOUT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: Coach Bobby Braswell's Matadors are 18-7 overall and lead the Big West with a 10-2 mark entering a Thursday night game at Cal State Fullerton. Junior guard Deon Tresvant leads five CSUN players in double-figure scoring with a 13.2 average. Jonathan Heard is averaging 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while Tremaine Townsend leads the team and the Big West in rebounding with a 9.5 average. Last week, the Matadors defeated Long Beach State, 82-78, and lost to Rider, 73-72, in a BracketBusters game.
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