UC Irvine at No. 25 Aztecs
Records: UC Irvine 6-3; SDSU 7-2
Series history: SDSU leads 12-7 and has won four straight, including 72-69 last year at Viejas Arena on a last-second 3 by Micah Parish. UC Irvine’s last win was in 1991.
Anteaters update: They lost the season opener at San Jose State, then a week later won by 10 at then-No. 16 USC. The results since have been equally mixed: wins against Pepperdine, Toledo and Rice, losses at Duquesne and at Utah State last Saturday. They’ve had the week off to prepare for SDSU. They are No. 67 in the NCAA Net metric, the only Big West team in the top 100. Five players average double figures: Justin Hohn (13.7 points), Derin Saran (11.1), Devin Tillis (10.7), Andre Henry (10.1) and Bent Leuchten (10.0) — although Leuchten, a 7-1 center from Germany, has missed the last five games after knee surgery. He has been replaced by 6-11 freshman Carter Welling. Pierre Cockrell ranks 30th in Div. I in assists per game at 5.6. The Anteaters rank 21st nationally in bench scoring at 32.4 points. Guard DJ Davis (a high school teammate of Lamont Butler) had a career-high 28 points in last year’s game against SDSU but he has since transferred to Butler, where he is starting and averaging 11.9 points. Coach Russell Turner is in his 14th season with NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015 and 2019.
Aztecs update: They return home after a stretch of five of six games away from Viejas Arena. They have won 37 straight against the Big West. This is the fourth Big West opponent on the schedule, having already dispatched Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and UCSD. The big question is whether Jaedon LeDee plays after spraining his right elbow in the 79-73 loss at Grand Canyon on Tuesday. He has six doubledoubles in nine games. The single-season school record is 23, held jointly by Kawhi Leonard and Michael Cage, both future NBA stars. The rest of the roster continues to get healthy, with Miles Byrd getting a few more practices after hip problems plus Reese Waters and Jay Pal being a few more days removed from a bout with the flu. With 11 points against Grand Canyon (most of them in the closing minutes), Darrion Trammell hit double figures for the first time this season. Parrish surpassed the career 1,000 mark with 10 points Tuesday. His winning 3 last year against UC Irvine was notable for turning, looking at fans seated courtside and retreating downcourt before it went in.
Next up: vs. NAIA Saint Katherine on Dec. 19 (7 p.m., YurView/Mountain West Network)