# 2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 2019–20 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by tenth-year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center. UC Irvine was a member of the Big West Conference. The team won their second straight Big West regular-season title before the 2020 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament; subsequently, the remainder of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season and postseason tournaments were canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team finished 21–11, and won at least a share of 3 of the last 4 Big West regular-season titles. The program has won at least 20 games in 7 of the last 8 seasons. Turner became the winningest coach in program history on January 15 surpassing Pat Douglass's total of 197 wins and won his 4th Big West Coach of the Year Award. Evan Leonard, Eyassu Worku and Tommy Rutherford all recorded their 1,000th point during the season, the first time the program has had three players score 1,000 career points in the same season. The team was 12th in the nation in FG% defense, holding opponents to 38.8% shooting, 11th in total rebounds (1,269), and 3rd in rebounding margin (+9.4). Brad Greene pulled down a Bren Events Center-record 21 rebounds on January 11 vs. Hawaii.

## Previous season

The Anteaters finished the season a program-best 31–6 overall, and 15–1 in the conference, and recorded their first-ever NCAA tournament win over Kansas State in the South Region first round before falling to Oregon in the second round. During the season, the Anteaters participated in the 2019 Gulf Coast Showcase, which was held in Estero, Florida, where they were runners-up upon defeating UTSA and Tulane before losing to Toledo. Prior to the season, the Anteaters competed in the 2018 Asia-Pacific University Basketball Challenge, hosted by the KBA and Yonsei University where they were also runners-up.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Max Hazzard | G | 5'10" | 170 | RS Junior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |
| Darrian Traylor | G | 6'4" | 210 | RS Junior | Las Vegas, NV | Graduated |
| Spencer Rivers | G | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Winter Park, FL | Walk-on; graduated |
| Elston Jones | F | 6'9" | 275 | RS Senior | Goodyear, AZ | Graduated |
| Robert Cartwright | G | 6'2" | 180 | Graduate | Pasadena, CA | Graduated |
| Jonathan Galloway | C | 6'10" | 235 | Graduate | Brentwood, CA | Graduated; signed with Bakken Bears |
| Solomon Ruddell | C | 7'1" | 235 | Sophomore | Los Osos, California | Transferred to Biola |

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2019* 7:00 p.m. | | UC San Diego | W 80–64 | | 15 – Leonard | 9 – Welp | 3 – tied | Bren Events Center (3,413) Irvine, CA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 p.m., WCCN | | at San Diego | W 76–73 | 1–0 | 19 – Leonard | 7 – Edgar | 3 – Worku | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,517) San Diego, CA |
| November 9, 2019* 5:00 p.m., WCCN | | at Pepperdine | L 73–77 | 1–1 | 26 – Worku | 9 – Welp | 4 – Lee | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,475) Malibu, CA |
| November 12, 2019* 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | Life Pacific | W 98–52 | 2–1 | 18 – Welp | 10 – Greene | 7 – Worku | Bren Events Center (1,392) Irvine, CA |
| November 15, 2019* 6:00 p.m., MWN | | at Boise State | W 69–60 | 3–1 | 15 – Worku | 8 – Greene | 5 – Welp | ExtraMile Arena Boise, ID |
| November 18, 2019* 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 23 Colorado MGM Main Event campus-site game | L 53–69 | 3–2 | 12 – Welp | 9 – Johnson | 3 – tied | CU Events Center (5,904) Boulder, CO |
| November 21, 2019* 4:00 p.m., FSSW+FCSP | | at TCU MGM Main Event campus-site game | L 58–59 | 3–3 | 14 – Welp | 12 – Greene | 5 – Worku | Schollmaier Arena (5,892) Fort Worth, TX |
| November 24, 2019* 12:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Detroit Mercy MGM Main Event Middleweight Bracket | L 74–86 | 3–4 | 14 – Rutherford | 18 – Welp | 5 – tied | Clark High School Las Vegas, NV |
| November 26, 2019* 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Louisiana MGM Main Event Middleweight Bracket | W 92–67 | 4–4 | 20 – Rutherford | 9 – Edgar | 5 – tied | Clark High School Las Vegas, NV |
| November 30, 2019* 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | Eastern Michigan | W 77–56 | 5–4 | 31 – Welp | 6 – Welp | 5 – Lee | Bren Events Center (2,813) Irvine, CA |
| December 7, 2019* 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | California Baptist | L 60–68 | 5–5 | 15 – tied | 10 – Greene | 6 – Worku | Bren Events Center (1,938) Irvine, CA |
| December 14, 2019* 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | Pacific Union | W 120–63 | 6–5 | 22 – Johnson | 10 – Krause | 9 – Lee | Bren Events Center (1,463) Irvine, CA |
| December 16, 2019* 4:00 p.m. | | vs. Kent State Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals | W 74–68 | 7–5 | 18 – Welp | 7 – Welp | 6 – Worku | Don Haskins Center (5,969) El Paso, TX |
| December 17, 2019* 6:00 p.m., CUSA TV | | at UTEP Sun Bowl Invitational championship | L 61–67 | 7–6 | 19 – Worku | 9 – Greene | 4 – Lee | Don Haskins Center (6,934) El Paso, TX |
| December 20, 2019* 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at UIC | L 67–76 | 7–7 | 19 – Worku | 7 – tied | 4 – tied | Credit Union 1 Arena (1,567) Chicago, IL |
| December 28, 2019* 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | Pacific | W 69–56 | 8–7 | 17 – Welp | 9 – Greene | 5 – Worku | Bren Events Center (1,855) Irvine, CA |
| January 4, 2020* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | at Harvard | L 73–77 | 8–8 | 21 – Worku | 10 – Welp | 4 – Worku | Lavietes Pavilion (1,636) Boston, MA |
| Big West regular season |||||||||
| January 11, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Hawaii | W 74–60 | 9–8 (1-0) | 18 – Welp | 21 – Greene | 2 – tied | Bren Events Center (2,938) Irvine, CA |
| January 15, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 74–61 | 10–8 (2–0) | 20 – tied | 14 – Rutherford | 4 – Krause | Titan Gym (689) Fullerton, CA |
| January 18, 2020 7:30 p.m., KDOC-TV | | UC Riverside | W 69–53 | 11–8 (3–0) | 13 – Leonard | 6 – Lee | 5 – Worku | Bren Events Center (2,106) Irvine, CA |
| January 22, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Long Beach State Black & Blue Rivalry | L 56–63 | 11–9 (3–1) | 14 – Leonard | 8 – Welp | 5 – Welp | Walter Pyramid (2,262) Long Beach, CA |
| January 25, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Cal Poly | W 74–67 | 12–9 (4–1) | 18 – tied | 8 – Greene | 10 – Worku | Bren Events Center (3,941) Irvine, CA |
| January 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | at UC Davis | W 80–65 | 13–9 (5–1) | 19 – Worku | 10 – Welp | 4 – Edgar | The Pavilion (1,002) Davis, CA |
| February 1, 2020 7:30 p.m., KDOC-TV | | Cal State Fullerton | W 91–61 | 14–9 (6–1) | 18 – tied | 12 – Greene | 6 – Worku | Bren Events Center (2,780) Irvine, CA |
| February 6, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | UC Davis | W 83–72 | 15–9 (7–1) | 17 – Greene | 12 – Greene | 6 – Leonard | Bren Events Center (1,756) Irvine, CA |
| February 8, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 61–64 | 15–10 (7–2) | 16 – Greene | 6 – Greene | 3 – Worku | The Thunderdome (3,187) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | W 63–59 | 16–10 (8–2) | 18 – Worku | 10 – Greene | 2 – 3 tied | SRC Arena (733) Riverside, CA |
| February 15, 2020 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Hawaii | W 70–63 | 17–10 (9–2) | 19 – Worku | 8 – Greene | 2 – Leonard | Stan Sheriff Center (7,591) Honolulu, HI |
| February 19, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Long Beach State Black & Blue Rivalry | W 70–55 | 18–10 (10–2) | 16 – Ruthreford | 11 – Greene | 3 – 3 tied | Bren Events Center (2,312) Irvine, CA |
| February 22, 2020 7:00 p.m., Big West TV | | at Cal State Northridge | W 87–64 | 19–10 (11–2) | 18 – Leonard | 11 – Greene | 9 – Worku | Matadome (1,544) Northridge, CA |
| February 27, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Cal Poly | W 82–76 | 20–10 (12–2) | 22 – Leonard | 6 – Edgar | 5 – Worku | Mott Athletics Center (2,703) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| February 29, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | UC Santa Barbara | W 69–58 | 21–10 (13–2) | 20 – Worku | 15 – Greene | 5 – Worku | Bren Events Center (5,000) Irvine, CA |
| March 4, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Cal State Northridge | L 70–72 | 21–11 (13–3) | 14 – Greene | 11 – Greene | 5 – Worku | Bren Events Center (2,954) Irvine, CA |
| Big West tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (8) Long Beach State Quarterfinals | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. |||||||||