Nevada, Aggies on UCI radar

There will be some familiar mascots coming to Orange County to mix it up with Peter the Anteater during the upcoming UC Irvine men’s basketball season.

Non-conference games against former Big West Conference counterparts the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Utah State Aggies highlight the Anteaters’ schedule that was released on Monday.

Coach Pat Douglass’ Anteaters open with an exhibition game against Cal Baptist Nov. 6 and the regular-season opener versus Loyola Marymount Nov. 9. Both of those contests are scheduled to be played at Crawford Court due to floor and seating renovations at the Bren Center.

UCI’s last game in Crawford was Dec. 20, 1986, when the Anteaters defeated Pepperdine, 103-91.

UCI plays host to Nevada Nov. 13 in a game scheduled for the Anaheim Convention Center. The Wolf Pack has competed in the last four NCAA Tournaments.

The Anteaters will face their second straight Western Athletic Conference opponent when former Big West member Utah State travels to the Bren Center for a Nov. 17 game. The Aggies joined the WAC in 2005-06.

UCI is set to compete in the Anaheim Basketball Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center Nov. 22, 23 and 24. The tournament field will be announced at a later date.

The Anteaters will play at Utah Dec. 1 before returning home to face Alaska Fairbanks Dec. 8 and San Francisco Dec. 15.

UCI closes out December with four consecutive road games, beginning with Sam Houston State Dec. 20 and Texas A&M; Dec. 22.

The Aggies had a final national ranking of ninth last season. UCI then takes a post-Christmas trip to South Carolina Dec. 28 and Harvard Dec. 30.

The Anteaters open Big West Conference play at Cal State Fullerton Jan. 4. The Big West schedule features 16 games with the addition of UC Davis to the conference.

The BracketBuster Series game is scheduled for Feb. 23 at the Bren Center. UCI follows that game with its final four Big West contests at home.

“We face another series of challenging non-conference tests this season,” said Pat Douglass, the 11th-year coach. “Our home schedule features some attractive opponents and I am sure the fans will enjoy seeing Utah State after the close games we had with the Aggies when they were in the Big West.”

UC Irvine was 15-18 overall last season and finished fifth in the Big West with a 6-8 mark.

The Anteaters return four starters, including seniors Patrick Sanders (11.9 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game) and Darren Fells (10.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg), who were 2007 All-Big West honorable mention selections. Senior Chuma Awaji (7.9 ppg) and sophomore Michael Hunter (6.8 ppg, 2.4 apg) are the returning backcourt starters.

Hunter, who was named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman All-America team, also was selected to the Big West All-Freshman team as was teammate Chad DeCasas (4.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg).

— From staff reports