2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by tenth-year head coach Russell Turner competing in the Bren Events Center. UC Irvine is a member of the Big West Conference. 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 Hawai'i.[1]

2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Big West regular season champions
ConferenceBig West Conference
2019–20 record21–11 (13–3 Big West)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBren Events Center
(Capacity: 5,000)
2019–20 Big West men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
UC Irvine133 .813  2111  .656
Cal State Northridge106 .625  1517  .469
UC Santa Barbara106 .625  2110  .677
Hawaiʻi88 .500  1713  .567
UC Davis88 .500  1418  .438
UC Riverside79 .438  1715  .531
Cal State Fullerton610 .375  1120  .355
Long Beach State610 .375  1121  .344
Cal Poly412 .250  723  .233
As of March 11, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll
NOTE: The 2020 Big West Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Anteaters finished the season a program best 31–6 overall, and 15–1 in the conference and recorded their first ever NCAA Tournament win over Kansas State in the South Region 1st Round before falling to Oregon in the Second Round.[2] During the season, the Anteaters participated in the 2019 Gulf Coast Showcase, which was held in Estero, Florida, where they were runner-ups defeating UTSA and Tulane before losing to Toledo. Prior to the season, the Anteaters competed in the 2018 Asia-Pacific University Basketball Challenge, hosted by the KBA and Yonsei University where they were also runner-ups.[3]

Offseason

Departures

Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Max Hazzard G 5'10" 170 RS Junior Los Angeles, California Graduated
Darrian Traylor G 6'4" 210 RS Junior Las Vegas, Nevada Graduated
Spencer Rivers G 6'2" 200 Senior Winter Park, Florida Walk–on; graduated
Elston Jones F 6'9" 275 RS Senior Goodyear, Arizona Graduated
Robert Cartwright G 6'2" 180 Graduate Pasadena, California Graduated
Jonathan Galloway C 6'10" 235 Graduate Brentwood, California Graduated; signed with Bakken Bears
Solomon Ruddell C 7'1" 235 Sophomore Los Osos, California Transferred to Biola[4]

Roster

2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 0 JC Butler (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)200 lb (91 kg) SoPrairie School Racine, Wisconsin
G 1 Devin Cole (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)175 lb (79 kg) RS FrBuena High School Ventura, California
G 2 Justin Hohn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) FrTea High Sioux Falls, South Dakota
G 4 Aiden Krause 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)198 lb (90 kg) RS FrAustralian Institute of Sport Mackay, QLD, Australia
G 5 Isaiah Lee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)190 lb (86 kg) FrAustralian Institute of Sport Sydney, NSW, Australia
G 10 Ofure Ujadughele 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)210 lb (95 kg) FrChino Hills High School Chino Hills, California
F 11 John Edgar Jr. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)215 lb (98 kg) SrAyala High School Chino Hills, California
G 13 Austin Johnson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)223 lb (101 kg) RS FrLink Year Prep/Wheeler High School Marietta, Georgia
G 14 Evan Leonard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)185 lb (84 kg) SrCerritos High School Cerritos, California
G 15 Jeron Artest 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)184 lb (83 kg) FrBella Vista Prep Scottsdale, Arizona
G 24 Eyassu Worku 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg) SrLos Alamitos High School Artesia, California
F 25 Emmanuel Tshimanga 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)300 lb (136 kg) FrBella Vista Prep Scottsdale, Arizona
F 31 Dean Keeler 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)210 lb (95 kg) FrMarina High School Westminster, California
F 40 Collin Welp 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)215 lb (98 kg) RS SoSeattle Preparatory School Seattle, Washington
F 42 Tommy Rutherford 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)240 lb (109 kg) SrGrossmont High School El Cajon, California
C 55 Brad Greene 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)270 lb (122 kg) RS JrLone Pine High School Lone Pine, California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: 19 July 2018

[5]

Schedule

[6]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2019*
7:00 pm
UC San Diego W 80–64 
 15  Leonard  9  Welp  3  Tied  Bren Events Center (3,413)
Irvine, CA
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019*
7:00 pm, WCCN
at San Diego W 76–73  1–0
 19  Leonard  7  Edgar Jr  3  Worku  Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,517)
San Diego, CA
November 9, 2019*
5:00 pm, WCCN
at Pepperdine L 73–77  1–1
 26  Worku  9  Welp  4  Lee  Firestone Fieldhouse (1,475)
Malibu, CA
November 12, 2019*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Life Pacific W 98–52  2–1
 18  Welp  10  Greene  7  Worku  Bren Events Center (1,392)
Irvine, CA
November 15, 2019*
6:00 pm, MWN
at Boise State W 69–60  3–1
 15  Worku  8  Greene  5  Welp  ExtraMile Arena 
Boise, ID
November 18, 2019*
6:00 pm, P12N
at No. 23 Colorado
MGM Main Event campus site game
L 53–69  3–2
 12  Welp  9  Johnson  3  Tied  CU Events Center (5,904)
Boulder, CO
November 21, 2019*
4:00 pm, FSSW+FCSP
at TCU
MGM Main Event campus site game
L 58–59  3–3
 14  Welp  12  Greene  5  Worku  Schollmaier Arena (5,892)
Fort Worth, TX
November 24, 2019*
12:00 pm, FloHoops
vs. Detroit Mercy
MGM Main Event Middleweight Bracket
L 74–86  3–4
 14  Rutherford  18  Welp  5  Tied  Clark High School 
Las Vegas, NV
November 26, 2019*
1:00 pm, FloHoops
vs. Louisiana
MGM Main Event Middleweight Bracket
W 92–67  4–4
 20  Rutherford  9  Edgar Jr  5  Tied  Clark High School 
Las Vegas, NN
November 30, 2019*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Eastern Michigan W 77–56  5–4
 31  Welp  6  Welp  5  Lee  Bren Events Center (2,813)
Irvine, CA
December 7, 2019*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
California Baptist L 60–68  5–5
 15  Tied  10  Greene  6  Worku  Bren Events Center (1,938)
Irvine, CA
December 14, 2019*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Pacific Union W 120–63  6–5
 22  Johnson  10  Krause  9  Lee  Bren Events Center (1,463)
Irvine, CA
December 16, 2019*
4:00 pm
vs. Kent State
Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals
W 74–68  7–5
 18  Welp  7  Welp  6  Worku  Don Haskins Center (5,969)
El Paso, TX
December 17, 2019*
6:00 pm, CUSA TV
at UTEP
Sun Bowl Invitational championship
L 61–67  7–6
 19  Worku  9  Greene  4  Lee  Don Haskins Center (6,934)
El Paso, TX
December 20, 2019*
5:00 pm, ESPN3
at UIC L 67–76  7–7
 19  Worku  7  Tied  4  Tied  Credit Union 1 Arena (1,567)
Chicago, IL
December 28, 2019*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Pacific W 69–56  8–7
 17  Welp  9  Greene  5  Worku  Bren Events Center (1,855)
Irvine, CA
January 4, 2020*
11:00 am, ESPN+
at Harvard L 73–77  8–8
 21  Worku  10  Welp  4  Worku  Lavietes Pavilion (1,636)
Boston, MA
Big West regular season
January 11, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Hawaii W 74–60  9–8
(1-0)
 18  Welp  21  Greene  2  Tied  Bren Events Center (2,938)
Irvine, CA
January 15, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Cal State Fullerton W 74–61  10–8
(2–0)
 20  Tied  14  Rutherford  4  Krause  Titan Gym (689)
Fullerton, CA
January 18, 2020
7:30 pm, KDOC-TV
UC Riverside W 69–53  11–8
(3–0)
 13  Leonard  6  Lee  5  Worku  Bren Events Center (2,106)
Irvine, CA
January 22, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Long Beach State
Black & Blue Rivalry
L 56–63  11–9
(3–1)
 14  Leonard  8  Welp  5  Welp  Walter Pyramid (2,262)
Long Beach, CA
January 25, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Cal Poly W 74–67  12–9
(4–1)
 18  Tied  8  Greene  10  Worku  Bren Events Center (3,941)
Irvine, CA
January 30, 2020
7:00 pm, Big West TV
at UC Davis W 80–65  13–9
(5–1)
 19  Worku  10  Welp  4  Edgar Jr.  The Pavilion (1,002)
Davis, CA
February 1, 2020
7:30 pm, KDOC-TV
Cal State Fullerton W 91–61  14–9
(6–1)
 18  Tied  12  Greene  6  Worku  Bren Events Center (2,780)
Irvine, CA
February 6, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
UC Davis W 83–72  15–9
(7–1)
 17  Greene  12  Greene  6  Leonard  Bren Events Center (1,756)
Irvine, CA
February 8, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPNU
at UC Santa Barbara L 61–64  15–10
(7–2)
 16  Greene  6  Greene  3  Worku  The Thunderdome (3,187)
Santa Barbara, CA
February 12, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at UC Riverside W 63–59  16–10
(8–2)
 18  Worku  10  Greene  2  3 tied  SRC Arena (733)
Riverside, CA
February 15, 2020
9:00 pm, ESPN2
at Hawai'i W 70–63  17–10
(9–2)
 19  Worku  8  Greene  2  Leonard  Stan Sheriff Center (7,591)
Honolulu, HI
February 19, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Long Beach State
Black & Blue Rivalry
W 70–55  18–10
(10–2)
 16  Ruthreford  11  Greene  3  3 tied  Bren Events Center (2,312)
Irvine, CA
February 22, 2020
7:00 pm, Big West TV
at Cal State Northridge W 87–64  19–10
(11–2)
 18  Leonard  11  Greene  9  Worku  Matadome (1,544)
Northridge, CA
February 27, 2020
8:00 pm, ESPNU
at Cal Poly W 82–76  20–10
(12–2)
 22  Leonard  6  Edgar Jr.  5  Worku  Mott Athletics Center (2,703)
San Luis Obispo, CA
February 29, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
UC Santa Barbara W 69–58  21–10
(13–2)
 20  Worku  15  Greene  5  Worku  Bren Events Center (5,000)
Irvine, CA
March 4, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Cal State Northridge L 70–72  21–11
(13–3)
 14  Greene  11  Greene  5  Worku  Bren Events Center (2,954)
Irvine, CA
Big West Tournament
March 12, 2020
6:00 pm, ESPN3
(1) vs. (8) Long Beach State
Quarterfinals
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Honda Center 
Anaheim, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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