# 2015–16 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 2015–16 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by sixth year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center. They are members of the Big West Conference. They finished the 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 where they lost to Columbia. This season, UC Irvine set the new season record in wins with 28, surpassing the previous mark of 25. They also set the records for most true road wins with 13, and most conference wins with 13. Alex Young became the first player in school history to record career 1,000 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebounds. Mamadou N'Diaye broke the school record in career blocked shots with 218.

## Off-Season
### 2015 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Brandon Smith SF | Santa Ana, CA | Godinez Fundamental High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jul 7, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Justin Wertner SG | Collierville, TN | Saint George Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 4, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Max Hazzard PG | Los Angeles, CA | Loyola High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | Oct 7, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Darrian Traylor SG | Las Vegas, NV | Centennial High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jul 14, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 64 ||||||
| 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 2015". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule

Sources:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/07/2015* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Vanguard | W 83–59 | | Bren Events Center (2,411) Irvine, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | UC San Diego | W 89–73 | 1–0 | Bren Events Center (2,969) Irvine, CA |
| 11/15/2015* 5:00 pm, KDOC Big West TV | | Loyola Marymount | W 77–53 | 2–0 | Bren Events Center (2,077) Irvine, CA |
| 11/18/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UCF | W 61–60 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | CFE Arena (5,629) Orlando, FL |
| 11/23/2015* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Santa Clara Wooden Legacy Non-bracketed round | W 79–61 | 4–0 | Bren Events Center (2,359) Irvine, CA |
| 11/26/2015* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Boise State Wooden Legacy Quarterfinals | L 64–71 | 4–1 | Titan Gym (2,341) Fullerton, CA |
| 11/27/2015* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Boston College Wooden Legacy Consolation round | W 80–67 | 5–1 | Titan Gym (3,173) Fullerton, CA |
| 11/29/2015* 11:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. Evansville Wooden Legacy 5th place Game | L 56–75 | 5–2 | Honda Center (4,393) Anaheim, CA |
| 12/04/2015* 7:00 pm, W.TV | | at Pacific | W 70–67 | 6–2 | Alex G. Spanos Center (2,111) Stockton, CA |
| 12/06/2015* 4:00 pm, CHN W.TV | | at Saint Mary's | L 60–70 | 6–3 | McKeon Pavilion (2,333) Moraga, CA |
| 12/12/2015* 6:00 pm, Root | | at Utah State | W 73–63 | 7–3 | Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (8,857) Logan, UT |
| 12/15/2015* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon | L 63–78 | 7–4 | Matthew Knight Arena (5,863) Eugene, OR |
| 12/18/2015* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Chapman | W 65–51 | 8–4 | Bren Events Center (1,721) Irvine, CA |
| 12/21/2015* 4:00 pm | | vs. Sam Houston State Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational Semifinals | W 63–53 | 9–4 | Don Haskins Center (7,746) El Paso, TX |
| 12/22/2015* 6:00 pm | | vs. Norfolk State Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational Championship | W 80–62 | 10–4 | Don Haskins Center (5,946) El Paso, TX |
| 12/29/2015* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 2 Kansas | L 53–78 | 10–5 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence KS |
| 01/02/2016* 7:30 pm, KDOC Big West TV | | New Mexico State | W 54–52 | 11–5 | Bren Events Center (2,866) Irvine, CA |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| 01/07/2016 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | UC Davis | W 76–55 | 12–5 (1–0) | Bren Events Center (2,831) Irvine, CA |
| 01/09/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | UC Riverside | W 84–68 | 13–5 (2–0) | Bren Events Center (4,233) Irvine, CA |
| 01/14/2016 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | at Long Beach State | W 58–54 | 14–5 (3–0) | Walter Pyramid (3,713) Long Beach, CA |
| 01/16/2016 4:00 pm, Big West TV | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 61–52 | 15–5 (4–0) | The Thunderdome (3,527) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 01/20/2016 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | Cal State Fullerton | W 72–59 | 16–5 (5–0) | Bren Events Center (2,211) Irvine, CA |
| 01/27/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 73–63 | 17–5 (6–0) | Matadome (2,157) Northridge, CA |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | UC Santa Barbara Homecoming | L 60–76 | 17–6 (6–1) | Bren Events Center (5,000) Irvine, CA |
| 02/03/2016 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | at Cal Poly | W 78–72 $^{OT}$ | 18–6 (7–1) | Mott Gym (1,877) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 02/11/2016 10:00 pm, OC Sports Big West TV | | at Hawaii | L 52–74 | 18–7 (7–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (9,826) Honolulu, HI |
| 02/13/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Northridge | W 93–84 | 19–7 (8–2) | Bren Events Center (2,486) Irvine, CA |
| 02/17/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 96–77 | 20–7 (9–2) | Titan Gym (1,209) Fullerton, CA |
| 02/20/2016 8:30 pm, ESPNU | | Hawaii | L 71–75 | 20–8 (9–3) | Bren Events Center (4,312) Irvine, CA |
| 02/24/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Long Beach State | W 90–67 | 21–8 (10–3) | Bren Events Center (2,654) Irvine, CA |
| 02/27/2016 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at UC Davis | W 62–61 | 22–8 (11–3) | The Pavilion (4,573) Davis, CA |
| 03/03/2016 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal Poly | W 72–62 | 23–8 (12–3) | Bren Events Center (3,004) Irvine, CA |
| 03/05/2016 2:00 pm, Big West TV | | at UC Riverside | W 76–66 | 24–8 (13–3) | The SRC (766) Riverside, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 6:00 pm, Prime Ticket | (2) | vs. (7) Cal Poly Quarterfinals | W 84–64 | 25–8 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| 03/11/2016 9:00 pm, ESPNU | (2) | vs. (3) Long Beach State Semifinals | L 72–77 | 25–9 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| CIT ||||||
| 03/16/2016* 5:00 pm, Midco SN / SideArm Sports/Big Sky TV | | at North Dakota First round | W 89–86 $^{OT}$ | 26–9 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,263) Grand Forks, ND |
| 03/23/2016* 5:15 pm, Side Arm Sports | | at Louisiana–Lafayette Quarterfinals | W 67–66 | 27–9 | Cajundome (1,901) Lafayette, LA |
| 03/27/2016* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Coastal Carolina Semifinals | W 66–47 | 28–9 | HTC Center (1,204) Conway, SC |
| 03/29/2016* 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Columbia Championship game | L 67–73 | 28–10 | Levien Gymnasium (2,603) New York City, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||