Last season, the UC Irvine Anteaters were blown out in the Big West Conference tournament championship game by Cal State Fullerton. When the two teams clashed again in this year's final, the Anteaters were out for revenge. It showed, as UC Irvine led by as many as 31 points and cruised to the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid. The Anteaters are built on their defense, but when they score like they did against Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine can be dangerous. Can the Anteaters carry that momentum into the Big Dance?
ESPN+ has your answers, as Joe Lunardi has enlisted a team of bracketologists to compile advanced metrics, key scouting intel and best- and worst-case tournament scenarios for all 68 teams to help you make smart picks in your bracket.
TOURNEY PROFILE
Best wins: at Texas A&M, at Saint Mary's
Worst losses: at Pacific, vs. Long Beach State
Regular season conference finish: 1st, Big West
Polls and metrics: Metrics agree that the Anteaters are worthy of their seed, ranking 68th in NET, 75th in KenPom and 81st in BPI.
All-time tourney record: 0-1
Coach (tourney record): Russ Turner (0-1)
PERSONNEL
(Note: Player statistics are through games of March 16)
Starting lineup
F Jonathan Galloway (7.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.1 BPG)
F Tommy Rutherford (6.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG)
G Eyassu Worku (7.5 PPG, 2.8 APG)
G Evan Leonard (11.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG)
G Max Hazzard (12.5 PPG, 2.2 APG)
Key bench players
G Robert Cartwright (6.8 PPG, 2.3 APG)
F John Edgar (6.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG)
F Elston Jones (5.7 PPG, 6.8 RPG)
Biggest strength: The Anteaters are a great defensive team, especially in the paint. UC Irvine allowed the lowest field goal percentage on 2-point attempts in the nation, at just a tick over 40 percent for the season. Turner rotates a lot of three-guard lineups, with two big men behind to protect the paint. The guards do a great job closing out on shooters and funneling drivers to the long arms of Jones or Galloway. Those big men also clean the glass, helping the Anteaters grab the third-most rebounds in Division I.
Biggest weakness: The Anteaters struggle at times with offensive aggressiveness. Turner's three-guard lineups can get a little dribble-heavy or fail to penetrate the ball inside the arc. UC Irvine ranks 291st this season in free throw rate nationally, and shot the second-fewest foul shots in the Big West during conference play. If the Anteaters don't attack the paint off the dribble or with post touches, their offense starts to look stale.
Best player: Hazzard has had an excellent junior season, turning himself into a deadeye shooter and dangerous scorer. With a quick first step and unlimited shooting range, he's able to heat up in a hurry. He did so in a December game against Denver, making 10 3-pointers in only 21 minutes on the court. Hazzard also comes from an impressive basketball pedigree, as his grandfather, Walt Hazzard, was a National Player of the Year at UCLA.
X factor: Galloway anchors things in the paint for the Anteaters. The senior center won Big West Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season this year. Galloway uses long arms and quick feet to protect the rim, deter paint scoring and snag rebounds. He does all of that while rarely fouling and communicating defensive information to his teammates on the perimeter.
SCOUTING REPORT
How they beat you: The Anteaters win games on the defensive end of the court. By forcing teams into long jump shots and contested looks, UC Irvine frustrates opposing offenses into cold spurts. In the Big West title game, Cal State Fullerton managed to score just 24 points in the first half and made under 25 percent of its 3s. That defensive performance was typical of UC Irvine's work this season. The Anteaters use their strong rebounding to flip those defensive stops into offensive opportunities.
How you beat them: UC Irvine relies heavily on scoring inside the arc. The Anteaters scored a higher percentage of their points inside the arc than any other team in the Big West. The Irvine guards are looking to slash into open lanes or dump the ball in to a posting big man. The Anteaters are not built as a jump-shooting team. Four of their five losses came when the Anteaters shot worse than 28 percent from outside the 3-point line.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
(Note: All statistics in this section are courtesy of kenpom.com and are accurate through games of March 16.)
NATIONAL RANKS
Offensive efficiency, 125th (106.7)
Defensive efficiency, 58th (97.3)
3-point percentage, 95th (36.0)
3-point percentage D, 113th (33.3)
Free throw rate, 291st (38.6)
Free throw rate D, 206th (33.7)
TO percentage, 80th (17.2)
TO percentage D, 289th (16.7)
HOW FAR WILL THEY GO?
Best-case scenario: A first-round victory
UC Irvine hangs its hat on its defensive intensity. In the NCAA tournament, that can go a long way. If the Anteaters can keep the pace of the game where they are comfortable, they will be able to stick around late in the second half. To pull the upset, they'll need to continue to get stops and start to hit some shots offensively as Hazzard and Leonard heat up. If that tandem catches fire, the Anteaters can sneak into the round of 32.
Worst-case scenario: Out of the game right away
The Anteaters dominated in Big West play this season, but haven't been put to the test much beyond that. UC Irvine's only game against a team clearly worthy of an at-large bid was a blowout loss to Utah State. The Aggies destroyed UC Irvine on the boards that night, with too much size and athleticism for the Anteaters to handle. If UC Irvine's shooting goes cold, the Anteaters don't have quite enough answers elsewhere to stay within arm's length of the lead.