UCI men shoot for first Big West road victory

UC IRVINE AT PACIFIC

WHEN: Tonight, 7:05

WHERE: Alex. G. Spanos Center

RADIO: KUCI/88.9 FM

TV: FSN Prime Ticket

BREAKDOWN: The Anteaters (7-10, 2-2 in the Big West Conference), now 1-9 away from campus this season, play the second game of the road trip against the Tigers (12-5, 3-1) ... UCI is looking to stop the bleeding on the road, where it will play four of its next five contests, after tonight, all against conference foes ... The Anteaters shot an abysmal 36.2% in Thursday’s 74-57 loss at UC Davis, which improved to 7-1 at home. UC Davis led, 17-0, in that game ... UCI, which has won all six of the games played on its campus, will try to top a UOP squad that is 6-1 at home after Thursday’s 87-82 win over Cal State Fullerton ... UCI is led by senior forward Patrick Sanders (15.1 points per game), senior Darren Fells (13.5 ppg), and junior Kevin Bland (7.7 ppg, 6.3 rebounds per game) ... Brett Lauer (7.8 ppg) entered Thursday shooting 45.5% from three-point range. But, after making just one of 10 against UC Davis, he is now at 40.8% from beyond the arc ... UCI Coach Pat Douglass and Pacific Coach Bob Thomason played together at UOP. But the head coaches aren’t the only former teammates reuniting. Bland played with current Tigers Michael Kirby and Michael Nunnally at San Joaquin Delta Community College during the 2005-06 season, when Bland was named Northern California Player of the Year.

— Barry Faulkner