2020–21 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 2020–21 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represents the University of California, Irvine in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by eleventh-year head coach Russell Turner competing in the Bren Events Center. UC Irvine is a member of the Big West Conference.

2020–21 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Conference	Big West Conference
2020–21 record	10–5 (6–1 Big West)
Head coach	Russell Turner (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Ryan Badrtalei Michael Wilder Alex Young
Captains	Brad Greene Collin Welp
Home arena	Bren Events Center (Capacity: 5,000)

2020–21 Big West men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UC Santa Barbara	8	–	2		.800			12	–	3		.800
UC Irvine	6	–	2		.750			10	–	6		.625
Cal State Bakersfield	8	–	4		.667			12	–	7		.632
UC Riverside	4	–	2		.667			8	–	4		.667
Hawaiʻi	5	–	5		.500			7	–	5		.583
Long Beach State	2	–	2		.500			3	–	5		.375
Cal State Fullerton	4	–	6		.400			5	–	6		.455
Cal State Northridge	3	–	5		.375			7	–	8		.467
UC Davis	2	–	4		.333			4	–	6		.400
UC San Diego*	1	–	3		.250			4	–	5		.444
Cal Poly	1	–	9		.100			3	–	13		.188
* ineligible for the 2021 NCAA Tournament due to transition period
† 2021 Big West Tournament winner As of February 7, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The team won their second straight Big West Regular Season title before the 2020 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and subsequently, the remainder of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season and postseason tournaments were canceled as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The team finished 21–11, and has won at least a share of 3 of the last 4 Big West Regular season titles. The program has won at least 20 games in 7 of the last 8 seasons. Turner became the winningest coach in program history on Jan 15 surpassing Pat Douglass total of 197 wins and won his 4th Big West Coach of the Year Award. Evan Leonard, Eyassu Worku, and Tommy Rutherford all recorded their 1000th point during the season, the first time the program has had 3 players score 1,000 career points in the same season. The team was 12th in the nation in FG % defense holding opponents to (38.8%) shooting, 11th in total rebounds (1,269), 3rd in rebounding margin (+9.4). Brad Greene pulled a Bren Events Center record 21 rebounds on Jan. 11 vs Hawaii.[1]

Roster

2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 JC Butler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Prairie School Racine, Wisconsin G 1 Dawson Baker 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Capistrano Valley High School Coto De Caza, California G 2 Justin Hohn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Fr Tea High Sioux Falls, South Dakota G 4 Andre Henry 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Saint Francis High School La Cañada Flintridge, California G 5 Isaiah Lee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Australian Institute of Sport Sydney, NSW, Australia G 10 Ofure Ujadughele (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Fr Chino Hills High School Chino Hills, California F 11 Hunter Ruck 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Rancho Solano Prep Scottsdale, Arizona G 13 Austin Johnson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 223 lb (101 kg) So Link Year Prep/Wheeler High School Marietta, Georgia G 15 Jeron Artest 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 184 lb (83 kg) So Bella Vista Prep Scottsdale, Arizona G 21 Jayce Catchings (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Rancho Christian School St. Louis, Missouri G 22 DJ Davis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Riverside Polytechnic High School Moreno Valley, California F 25 Emmanuel Tshimanga 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 300 lb (136 kg) RS Fr Bella Vista Prep Scottsdale, Arizona F 31 Dean Keeler  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Marina High School Westminster, California F 40 Collin Welp 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Seattle Preparatory School Seattle, Washington C 55 Brad Greene 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 270 lb (122 kg) RS Sr Lone Pine High School Lone Pine, California	Head coach Russell Turner (Hampden–Sydney) Assistant coach(es) Ryan Badrtalei (UCLA) Michael Wilder (UC Irvine) Alex Young (UC Irvine) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 1 December 2020

[2]

Schedule

[3]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 3:30 pm		vs. Pepperdine	L 72–86	0–1	20 – Greene	9 – Greene	6 – Baker	Viejas Arena (0) San Diego, CA
November 27, 2020* 4:00 pm, MWN/YurView		at San Diego State	L 58–77	0–2	11 – Greene	8 – Greene	4 – Butler	Viejas Arena (0) San Diego, CA
November 28, 2020* 8:00 pm, Big West TV		Bethesda	W 135–55	1–2	20 – Johnson	16 – Johnson	6 – Lee	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
December 02, 2020* 6:00 pm, Big West TV		La Sierra	W 104–54	2–2	21 – Baker	9 – Butler	3 – Tied	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
December 08, 2020* 7:00 pm, P12N		at USC	L 56–91	2–3	17 – Baker	7 – Tied	5 – Henry	Galen Center (0) Los Angeles, CA
December 17, 2020* 7:00 pm, WCCN		at Loyola Marymount	L 48–51	2–4	12 – Baker	19 – Welp	2 – Welp	Gersten Pavilion (0) Los Angeles
December 19, 2020* 4:00 pm, Big West TV		San Diego	W 85–53	3–4	16 – Welp	9 – Greene	6 – Lee	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
December 27, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Santa Barbara	W 75–56	4–4 (1–0)	14 – Greene	12 – Greene	4 – Tied	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
December 28, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Santa Barbara	W 73–69	5–4 (2–0)	16 – Welp	9 – Welp	3 – Welp	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
January 01, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cal State Northridge	Cancelled due to COVID-19					Matadome  Northridge, CA
January 02, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cal State Northridge	Cancelled due to COVID-19					Matadome  Northridge, CA
January 08, 2021 4:00 pm, Big West TV		UC Davis	Cancelled due to Yolo County Restrictions					Bren Events Center  Irvine, CA
January 09, 2021 4:00 pm, Big West TV		UC Davis	Cancelled due to Yolo County Restrictions					Bren Events Center  Irvine, CA
January 8, 2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at UC San Diego	Cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns					RIMAC Arena  La Jolla, CA
January 9, 2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at UC San Diego	W 79–65	6–4	23 – Davis	6 – Welp	3 – Tied	RIMAC Arena (0) La Jolla, CA
January 22, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Cal Poly	W 68–49	7–4 (3–0)	15 – Welp	8 – Greene	3 – Welp	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
January 23, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Cal Poly	W 67–44	8–4 (4–0)	18 – Welp	7 – Tied	3 – Hohn	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
January 29, 2021 9:00 pm, Spectrum OC16 Big West TV		at Hawaii	W 53–51	9–4 (5–0)	18 – Greene	14 – Greene	4 – Davis	Stan Sheriff Center (0) Honolulu, HI
January 30, 2021 9:00 pm, Spectrum OC16 Big West TV		at Hawaii	L 61–62 ^OT	9–5 (5–1)	20 – Welp	11 – Greene	2 – Artest	Stan Sheriff Center (0) Honolulu, HI
February 05, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Cal State Bakersfield	W 70–53	10–5 (6–1)	16 – Welp	8 – Greene	2 – Tied	Bren Events Center (0) Irvine, CA
February 06, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPNU		Cal State Bakersfield						Bren Events Center  Irvine, CA
February 12, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3 Wildcard		at UC Riverside						SRC  Riverside, CA
February 13, 2021 9:00 pm, ESPNU		at UC Riverside						SRC  Riverside, CA
February 19, 2021 5:00 pm, Big West TV		at Cal State Fullerton						Titan Gym  Fullerton, CA
February 20, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 Wildcard		at Cal State Fullerton						Titan Gym  Fullerton, CA
February 26, 2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN2/ESPN3 Wildcard		UC San Diego						Bren Events Center  Irvine, CA
February 27, 2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		UC San Diego						Bren Events Center  Irvine, CA
March 05, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3 Wildcard		at Long Beach State						Walter Pyramid  Long Beach, CA
March 06, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3 Wildcard		at Long Beach State						Walter Pyramid  Long Beach, CA
Big West Tournament
March 09, 2021 TBA, ESPN3		vs.  First Round						Mandalay Bay Events Center  Las Vegas, NV
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

1. "2019-20 MEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON REVIEW". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
2. "2020–21 Men's Basketball Roster". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
3. "2020–21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 1 December 2020.