UC IRVINE AT HARVARD

WHEN: Today, 11 a.m.

WHERE: Lavietes Pavilion

RADIO: KUCI/88.9 FM

BREAKDOWN: If history is any judge, UCI has had quite enough of its third straight 4-8 start, which includes three straight losses and an 0-8 record away from campus this season. After opening 4-8 in 2006-07, the Anteaters won their next three games. In 2005-06, the ’Eaters responded to a 4-8 start by reeling off nine straight wins ... Harvard (4-10), would appear to provide a prime opportunity for UCI to turn things around. The Crimson, though 3-1 at home this season, including a 62-51 triumph over Michigan on Dec. 1 in the 2,050-seat Lavietes Pavilion, have lost six straight, including a 73-68 verdict at home to Vermont on Dec. 16 ... First-year Crimson Coach Tommy Amaker, a former standout player at Duke, was previously a head coach at Michigan and Seton Hall ... It is fitting, perhaps, if losing is getting old for both teams. Today’s game will be played at the nation’s oldest university (founded in 1636) at the second-oldest Division I men’s basketball venue (built in 1926, but recently refurbished). Only Oregon’s McArthur Court is older among Division I venues. Harvard has four scorers averaging double figures, though only junior guard Jeremy Lin (12.6 points per game) has started all 14 games. Drew Housman (13.6 ppg) leads the team in scoring and the 6-0 junior is shooting 42.2% from three-point range (19 of 45) ... UCI is led by senior front-court standouts Patrick Sanders (13.8 ppg, 5.0 rebounds per contest) and Darren Fells (13.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Fells is shooting 63.1% from the field (53 of 84).

— Barry Faulkner