Men's Basketball Hosts UC Irvine In First Big West Home Game Of Season

January 11	7 pm PT	vs. UC Irvine	KFNY 1440 AM	Live VIdeo	Listen Live	Live Stats	(951) 827-4653 For Tickets
					Game Notes

Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team welcomes UC Irvine to the SRC Arena Saturday, January 11 for the Highlanders first Big West Conference home game of the 2013-14 season. Tip is slated for 7 pm PT.

Saturday also marks the first of three Bring Back The Past events slated for this year, as the Highlanders will honor long-time athletic trainer Vic DeLeeuw in halftime ceremonies (Read the press release).

UC Riverside is coming off yet another close defeat as they dropped a 78-73 decision at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday (box score/recap). Is is the Highlanders seventh loss of the season by five points or fewer.

Taylor Johns found his offensive rhythm once again against the Titans: After failing to reach double figures in scoring over his last four games, the sophomore paced UC Riverside with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Finley recorded his fourth straight double-digit scoring effort, and Steven Thornton reached double figures for the second straight game. Johns now leads the Highlanders in scoring (12.9) and rebounding (8.5).

UC Irvine will provide UCR with a unique challenge as they boast one of the tallest players in the nation in Mamadou Ndiaye. The 7-6 center is connecting on 76.8 percent of his field goal attempts and has 59 blocks in just 17 games. He is far from the Anteaters only threat, however. Irvine's leading scorer is Will Davis II. He is averaging 12.1 points per game on 60.7 percent shooting from the floor, and grabs a team-high 7.4 boards per game. Chris McNealy (11.6) and Luke Nelson (11.4) are also double figure scorers for the Anteaters.

As a team, UC Irvine is connecting on 48.2 percent of its shots and 35.3 percent from three-point range. They are out-rebounding the opposition by nearly six rebounds per game, and they hold opponents to 39.1 percent shooting.

The 'Eaters began Big West Conference play by snapping Long Beach State's 26-game home winning streak against Big West opponents with a 44-42 victory.

The Highlanders are 23-30 all-time against UC Irvine with wins in six of the last eight meetings between the clubs (view all-time results). The teams split their two games from a year ago with UC Riverside picking up a 68-58 win at home on January 19 (box score/recap) and UC Irvine eking out a 52-48 victory on February 13 at the Bren Center (box score/recap).

Men's Basketball Hosts UC Irvine In First Big West Home Game Of Season

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