So far the Anteaters are 3-2 with a loss at California in OT and a home loss to Utah State 56-72, and 2 home wins over South Dakota State and Pacific, along with yesterday’s road win over South Dakota State 63-52.
Last year UC Irvine made it to the CIT Championship game, with an RPI of 65. They lost 7’6” Mamadou Ndiaye to graduation and 3 other starters from that team. Nonetheless they have reloaded well enough to be picked #2 in the Big West behind Long Beach State in Blue Ribbon. Blue Ribbon also picked 6-3 guard Luke Nelson as preseason Big West POY, but for some reason he has yet to play a minute for UC Irvine this year. Irvine also ranked 2nd in the Big West in SI, who ranks them 169th in the nation.
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/201...twitter_si
This team presents a very different challenge from what we’ve seen. They are VERY long in the front court – 3 guys 6’10”, 1 guy
7’2” 255 (Ioannis Dimakopoulos), a 6’8” 275 and a 6’9”. The guards, however, are on the small side – two 5’10” 170, one 6’2” 170, and one 6’1” 190. The team plays a controlled pace, averaging 66 points. They don’t rebound as well as the size would lead you to think, 38.3 per game to the opponents 37.5. But they do block 5.5 shots per game. They shoot only .314 from 3, but defend the perimeter even better, holding opponents to .292. They commit 11.5 turnovers to their opponents 9.8.
With a controlled pace and lots of length, Peter Jurkin might match up reasonably well, although 255 Dimakopoulos and 6-10 320 Greene have an advantage in bulk.
Although
5-10 Sr. Jaron Martin is a solid experienced guard (15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists, while averaging 31.5 minutes of play) who has already been named Big West player of the week, the Bucs depth and speed at guard ought to give us an advantage. Play their game and the Bucs ought to win.
The guys who actually play are as follows, with all stats from this season:
Guards:
Jaron Martin 5-10 170 Sr; 31.5 minutes, 15.5 points, .240 from 3 (1.5 makes), 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.8 t.o.’s, 1.0 steals
Max Hazzard 5-10 170 Rs-Fr; 21.8 minutes, 8.5 points, .429 from 3 (1.5 makes), 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 t.o.’s,
Evassu Worku 6-2 170 Fr; 20.5 minutes, 6.0 points .200 from 3 (0.5 makes), 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.0 t.o.’s
Evan Leonard 6-1 190 Fr; 18.0 minutes, 5.0 points, .231 from 3
Against SDSU, the Anteaters gave a lot of minutes to
Spencer Rivers 6-2 200 So, who got 26 minutes 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 t.o.. And only 4 minutes apiece to wings
Smith and
Edgar.
Front Court:
Ioannis Dimakopoulos 7-2 255 Sr; 22.0 minutes, 11.5 points, .500 from 3 (1.0 makes), 2.5 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Jonathan Galloway 6-10 235 So; 24.3 minutes, 2.0 points, no 3’s, 7.0 rebounds,2.5 blocks
Tommy Rutherford 6-8 220 Fr; 16.5 minutes, 5.8 points, no 3’s, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks
Brad Greene 6-10 320 Fr; 6.3 minutes, 2.5 points, no 3’s, 2.5 rebounds
Wings:
Brandon Smith 6-5 190 So; 27.3 minutes, 5.0 points, .429 from 3 (1.2 makes), 4.3 rebounds
John Edgar 6-5 217 Fr; 12.5 minutes, 2.3 points, .143 from 3, 1.5 rebounds
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Official Game Thread: UC-Irvine
