NET #77 UC-Irvine at #48 Utah (National Invitation Tournament)
TODAY 9p MT
ESPN2
This is a Quadrant 3 game for Utah.
Peter the Anteater
-
from ucirvinesports.com article [results updated with utahutes.com recaps]
LONG TIME NO SEE
UC Irvine and Utah will meet for the first time in 16 [much closer to 15] years on Tuesday. The two teams last met in the 2008-09 season where the Anteaters hosted the Runnin’ Utes inside the Bren Events Center on December 27, 2008 (W, 60-52). UCI last played Utah in Salt Lake City just a year earlier, Dec. 2007 (W, 78-66). -
from utahutes.com article
KNOWING THY FOE
The two-time defending Big West Regular-Season Champions are led by 14th-year head coach Russell Turner, who has led the Anteaters to nine seasons with 20-plus wins. UCI enters Tuesday’s match-up 24-9 overall with a 17-3 mark in Big West action. As the top-seed in the conference tournament, UCI fell to a hot Long Beach State team that won three-straight games this past weekend to punch its ticket to the Big Dance. This will be UCI’s eighth NIT appearance all-time and the fourth under Turner.
.
UC Irvine utilizes its full roster with 12 of the 13 players with statistics having played at least 27 games. Of the 13, only two have played less than 350 minutes on the year. The team’s top-four scorers are predominantly upper classmen with the exception of one.
.
Redshirt senior Justin Hohn leads the way averaging 12.7 points with a team-best 60 made 3-pointers while his 31 steals is second-most on the team and his 51 assists is tied for third-most. Senior Andre Henry is second-leading scorer on the team and only other player averaging in double-digits scoring 10.6 points per game with a 3.7 rebounding average. Freshman Derin Saran, a 6-4 guard out of Istanbul, Turkey, is third on the team in scoring averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 rebounds with a .502 shooting clip. He’s also tied with Hohn for third on the team in assists with 51 dimes. Redshirt Junior Devin Tillis is just behind Saran, averaging 9.5 points with a team-best 6.1 rebounds to go with his 61 assists – which is good for second on the team.
.
On the defensive side, the Anteaters have a trio of players with 30-plus blocks on the team, in Dean Keeler (33), Bent Leuchten (31) and Carter Welling (30).