2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

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. 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.

2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
Big West Regular Season champions
NIT, First round
ConferenceBig West Conference
2016–17 record21–15 (12–4 Big West)
Head coachRussell Turner (7th season)
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBren Events Center
2016–17 Big West men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
UC Irvine12–4 .750  21–15  .583
UC Davis †11–5 .688  23–13  .639
Cal State Fullerton10–6 .625  17–15  .531
Long Beach State9–7 .563  15–19  .441
Hawaii8–8 .500  14–16  .467
Cal State Northridge7–9 .438  11–19  .367
Cal Poly6–10 .375  11–20  .355
UC Riverside5–11 .313  7–21  .250
UC Santa Barbara4–12 .250  6–22  .214
† 2017 Big West Tournament winner

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:   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN:   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: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   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: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   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: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   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 2017-10-20.
  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.

    Roster
    2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
    PlayersCoaches
    Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
    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  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)  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  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, NV
    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
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