It is not a stretch to state that the Anteaters are the best team in the conference. This is nothing new. Head Coach Russ Turner has guided UC Irvine to the regular season title in six of the past ten seasons, something no other school has done more than twice in that time. Entering his 15th season, he appears headed for another regular season title. Going into Hawai`i last week they were undefeated in league play and barely lost to the Rainbow Warriors a team that has only lost once at home this season and is always tough to beat in Honolulu. Uncharacteristically, UCI lost a number of games at home in preseason play but most of their losses were to very strong opponents (combined record 56-23). Gone are past Aggie nemeses Myles Che, Brent Leuchten and Devin Tillis. It is clear, however, that Coach Turner had recruited a number of new players who needed to mesh with a returning core of bench players and mesh they have. This year, their hallmark is strong defense as they allow only 66.8 ppg. ranking 38th nationally.

An important holdover for UCI is forward Elijah Chol, a 7’ 0” forward in his third season as an Anteater coming out of Georgia. In his first two seasons, he saw very little playing time, but in two games against Bakersfield and Fullerton he bucketed 19 points while shooting 80% from the field including three of four from beyond the arc. The other starting forward is 6’ 10” Kyle Evans who, like Chol, had not seen much playing time until this year. He is also an outstanding rebounder grabbing 8.1 rpg to go with his 12 ppg. Chol and Evans have combined for 79 blocked shots this season As a team, the Aggies have 41. Getting to the hoop onside the paint will be tough. The forward who solidly backs up the two starters is Harrison Carrington, a U. of Colorado transfer.

The backcourt consists of top scorer Jurian Dixon, the one starter that Aggies fans might remember from last year. His scoring average has nearly doubled to 15.8 ppg. helped by his 44% accuracy from trey land. His fellow guards are Darin Saran, a transfer from Stanford, and Tama Isaac, a freshman from New Zealand. Those two combine to toss in an additional 19 ppg. The Eaters have good depth at guard with freshman Jovan Jester, Jr. and sixth year senior Andre Henry.

The Anteaters are not only coming to Davis after a bye on Thursday, but angry about their loss to Hawai`i last week, so they will be rested and motivated. An upset by the Aggies would be special but a real long shot. They'll have to play a lot better on Saturday than they did on Thursday.