Anteaters at home vs. Ducks

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team’s 2008-09 schedule includes three teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season, including USC in the regular-season opener at the Galen Center on Nov. 15 and at home against Oregon, Nov. 21.

The other NCAA Tournament team on the slate is Big West Conference rival Cal State Fullerton. The Anteaters play host to the Titans in the Big West Conference opener Jan. 3 and visit Titan Gym in the Big West regular-season finale on March 7. Cal State Fullerton defeated UCI, 81-66, in the championship game of the Big West Conference Tournament last season to earn the school’s first NCAA berth since 1978.

UCI finished 18-16 last season, 9-7 in conference, which put the ‘Eaters in fifth place in the nine-team conference.

Coach Pat Douglass’ Anteaters, looking for the program’s first NCAA berth, also have nonconference home games against Eastern Washington (Nov. 19), Seattle (Dec. 16), Utah (Dec. 27) and Cal State Bakersfield (Jan. 21).

Utah reached the quarterfinals of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational postseason tournament last season.

Seattle is making a transition to Division I, while Cal State Bakersfield is the former home of Douglass, who guided the Roadrunners to three NCAA Division II championships in his 10 seasons at the helm from 1987 to 1997.

UCI plays nonconference road games against Idaho (Nov. 28), Eastern Washington (Nov. 30), Utah State (Dec. 2) and Pepperdine (Dec. 6). Other road dates include a BrackBuster matchup against an opponent to be determined (Feb. 21) and the Missouri State Tournament, Dec. 20-22. The tournament field includes host Missouri State, Norfolk State and Middle Tennessee State.

UCI will play an exhibition game at home on Nov. 8 against Cal Poly Pomona.

Homecoming will be Feb. 28 against UC Riverside, the second game of a doubleheader that also features the UCI women’s team.

The Anteaters return three players who started at least half of their games last season, led by junior guard Michael Hunter, who averaged 8.8 points and sank a team-best 56 three-pointers as a sophomore, when he started 31 games.

Kevin Bland, who will be a 6-foot-8 senior, started 20 games as a junior. He averaged 5.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and was fifth in the Big West with 1.5 steals per contest.

Senior guard Brett Lauer, who made 13 starts last season, averaged 7.3 points and hit 50 three-pointers, while Chad DeCasas, who will be a junior, averaged 4.9 points and started 17 games.

Patrick Rembert, a freshman last season, is also back. He emerged as a solid contributor in the backcourt late in the campaign, averaging more than 31 minutes per game in four Big West Tournament contests.

Derrick Strings, who redshirted last season as a freshman, is the only other returner from last year’s roster.

Trey Harris, a junior guard last season, Justin Johnson, a sophomore guard in 2007-08, Matt Ballard, a 6-8 freshman forward last season, Brandon James, a 6-8 redshirt as a junior, and Chad McDaniel, a junior walk on, have all left the program.

The incoming recruiting class includes transfer guards Darren Moore (Citrus Community College), Aaron England (College of Eastern Utah), transfer post players Zack Atkinson (Feather River College and Ryan Staker (Central Arizona College), as well as freshmen forwards Eric Wise (Martin Luther King High in Riverside) and Adam Folker (District High in Markham, Ontario, Canada).

— From staff reports