2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

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2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Big West Regular Season champions
NIT, First round
ConferenceBig West Conference
Record21–15 (12–4 Big West)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBren Events Center
Seasons
2016–17 Big West men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UC Irvine 12 4   .750 21 15   .583
UC Davis 11 5   .688 23 13   .639
Cal State Fullerton 10 6   .625 17 15   .531
Long Beach State 9 7   .563 15 19   .441
Hawai'i 8 8   .500 14 16   .467
Cal State Northridge 7 9   .438 11 19   .367
Cal Poly 6 10   .375 11 20   .355
UC Riverside 5 11   .313 7 21   .250
UC Santa Barbara 4 12   .250 6 22   .214
2017 Big West tournament winner

The 2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by seventh year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 21–15, 12–4 in Big West play to win the regular season conference championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated UC Riverside and Long Beach State before losing to UC Davis in the championship game. As a No. 1 seed in their conference tournament who failed to win their conference tournament title, UC Irvine received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As a No. 8 seed, they were defeated by No. 1 seed Illinois State in the first round.[1] The team won their third Big West Regular Season title in the past four years and their 5th straight season with at least 20 wins.

Previous season

The Anteaters finished the 2015–16 season 28–10, 13–3 in Big West play to win a share of the regular season Big West championship. They defeated Cal Poly in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Long Beach State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated North Dakota, Louisiana–Lafayette, and Coastal Carolina to advance to the championship game. In the championship game, they lost to Columbia.

Off-Season

2016 Recruiting Class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Eyassu Worku
PG
Los Alamitos, CA Los Alamitos High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Nov 6, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   RivalsN/A   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 80
Evan Leonard
PG
Cerritos, CA Cerritos High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jun 5, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:3/5 stars   ESPN grade: 73
Tommy Rutherford
C
San Diego, CA Grossmont High School 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:3/5 stars   ESPN grade: 72
Brad Greene
C
Lone Pine, CA Lone Pine High School 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 285 lb (129 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:1/5 stars   ESPN grade: 59
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: n/a   Rivals: n/a  ESPN: n/a
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "ESPN - UC Irvine Basketball Recruiting 2016". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.

Roster

2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 0 Jaron Martin 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Sunland, California
G 2 Max Hazzard 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Fr Los Angeles, California
G 4 Justin Wertner Current redshirt 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Fr Memphis, Tennessee
F 5 Jonathan Galloway 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Brentwood, California
G 10 Luke Nelson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Worthing, England
F 11 John Edgar Jr. (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Fr Chino Hills, California
C 12 Ioannis Dimakopoulos 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Sr Patra, Greece
F 13 Brandon Smith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Santa Ana, California
G 14 Evan Leonard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Cerritos, California
G 23 Darrian Traylor 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Fr Las Vegas, Nevada
G 24 Eyassu Worku 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Artesia, California
G 25 Spencer Rivers (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Winter Park, Florida
C 32 Adam Liberman (W) Current redshirt 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Valley Village, California
F 42 Tommy Rutherford 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr El Cajon, California
F 50 Elston Jones Current redshirt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Jr Goodyear, Arizona
C 55 Brad Greene 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 320 lb (145 kg) Fr Lone Pine, California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/05/2016*
2:00 pm, Big West TV
Sonoma State W 81–63 
Bren Events Center (1,449)
Irvine, CA
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Utah State L 56–72  0–1
Bren Events Center (1,883)
Irvine, CA
11/14/2016*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
South Dakota State
Sanford Pentagon Showcase Opening Game
W 73–58  1–1
Bren Events Center (1,172)
Irvine, CA
11/16/2016*
8:00 pm, P12N
at No. 25 California L 65–75 OT 1–2
Haas Pavilion (8,104)
Berkeley, CA
11/19/2016*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Pacific W 72–65  2–2
Bren Events Center (1,678)
Irvine, CA
11/25/2016*
6:00 pm
vs. South Dakota State
Sanford Pentagon Showcase
W 63–52  3–2
Sanford Pentagon (1,826)
Sioux Falls, CA
11/26/2016*
12:00 pm
vs. Milwaukee
Sanford Pentagon Showcase
L 37–54  3–3
Sanford Pentagon (379)
Sioux Falls, SD
11/27/2016*
10:00 am
vs. East Tennessee State
Sanford Pentagon Showcase
L 66–72  3–4
Sanford Pentagon (291)
Sioux Falls, SD
11/30/2016*
7:00 pm, theW.TV
at Santa Clara W 58–55  4–4
Leavey Center (1,082)
Santa Clara, CA
12/06/2016*
7:00 pm, P12N
at No. 20 Arizona L 57–79  4–5
McKale Center (14,208)
Tucson, AZ
12/09/2016*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Pomona-Pitzer W 80–53  5–5
Bren Events Center (1,141)
Irvine, CA
12/11/2016*
5:00 pm, CHN/theW.tv
at No. 12 Saint Mary's L 53–84  5–6
McKeon Pavilion (3,207)
Moraga, CA
12/14/2016*
7:00 pm, MWN
at Nevada L 69–76  5–7
Lawlor Events Center (6,911)
Reno, NV
12/19/2016*
6:00 pm, WAC Digital Network
at New Mexico State L 79–85 OT 5–8
Pan American Center (3,794)
Las Cruces, NM
12/21/2016*
4:00 pm
vs. Akron
Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals
L 80–88  5–9
Don Haskins Center (5,333)
El Paso, TX
12/22/2016*
4:00 pm
at UTEP
Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational 3rd place game
W 62–57  6–9
Don Haskins Center (4,633)
El Paso, TX
12/30/2016*
7:00 pm, Big West TV
Life Pacific W 101–43  7–9
Bren Events Center (1,107)
Irvine, CA
Big West regular season
01/04/2017
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Long Beach State
Black & Blue Rivalry
W 82–67  8–9
(1–0)
Bren Events Center (1,944)
Irvine, CA
01/07/2017
7:30 pm, Prime Ticket
Hawaii W 84–56  9–9
(2–0)
Bren Events Center (2,359)
Irvine, CA
01/12/2017
7:00 pm, Big West TV
at UC Santa Barbara W 66–62  10–9
(3–0)
The Thunderdome (3,056)
Santa Barbara, CA
01/14/2017
5:00 pm, ESPN3
Cal State Fullerton W 87–67  11–9
(4–0)
Bren Events Center (2,468)
Irvine, CA
01/18/2017
7:00 pm, Big West TV
at Cal Poly W 70–48  12–9
(5–0)
Mott Gym (1,250)
San Luis Obispo, CA
01/21/2017
7:00 pm, Big West TV
at Cal State Northridge W 105–73  13–9
(6–0)
Matadome (1,107)
Northridge, CA
01/26/2017
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Cal Poly L 66–79  13–10
(6–1)
Bren Events Center (2,107)
Irvine, CA
01/28/2017
5:00 pm, Big West TV
at UC Davis L 65–74  13–11
(6–2)
The Pavilion (3,574)
Davis, CA
02/04/2017
8:00 pm, ESPNU
at Long Beach State
Black & Blue Rivalry
L 63–72  13–12
(6–3)
Walter Pyramid (4,213)
Long Beach, CA
02/08/2017
7:00 pm, ESPN3
UC Santa Barbara W 64–47  14–12
(7–3)
Bren Events Center (1,759)
Irvine, CA
02/11/2017
10:30 pm, OC Sports
at Hawaii W 72–58  15–12
(8–3)
Stan Sheriff Center (7,452)
Honolulu, HI
02/18/2017
9:00 pm, ESPNU
UC Riverside W 79–60  16–12
(9–3)
Bren Events Center (1,860)
Irvine, CA
02/22/2017
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Cal State Fullerton L 54–56  16–13
(9–4)
Titan Gym (1,526)
Fullerton, CA
02/25/2017
7:30 pm, ESPN3
Cal State Northridge
Homecoming
W 83–80  17–13
(10–4)
Bren Events Center (4,234)
Irvine, CA
03/01/2017
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at UC Riverside W 68–56  18–13
(11–4)
The SRC (781)
Riverside, CA
03/04/2017
3:00 pm, Prime Ticket
UC Davis W 79–49  19–13
(12–4)
Bren Events Center (4,384)
Irvine, CA
Big West tournament
03/09/2017
6:00 pm, Prime Ticket
(1) vs. (8) UC Riverside
Quarterfinals
W 76–67  20–13
Honda Center (3,486)
Anaheim, CA
03/10/2017
6:30 pm, ESPN3
(1) vs. (4) Long Beach State
Semifinals
W 62–57  21–13
Honda Center (4,083)
Anaheim, CA
03/11/2017
8:30 pm, ESPN2
(1) vs. (2) UC Davis
Championship game
L 47–50  21–14
Honda Center (5,085)
Anaheim, CA
NIT
3/15/2017*
6:30 pm, ESPNU
(8) at (1) Illinois State
First round – Illinois State Bracket
L 71–85  21–15
Redbird Arena (5,124)
Normal, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time.

References