ANAHEIM, Calif. – The No. 6 seed University of Hawai'i men's basketball team and No. 3 seed UC Irvine will meet for the third time in as many weeks when they square off in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Big West Tournament on Thursday, March 8. Tipoff is 6:00 p.m. PT/4:00 p.m. HT at the Honda Center.
 
The teams split the regular-season series, with each team winning on the road. This will be the third time the teams meet up in the Big West tournament. UCI won the previous two meetings in 2013 (quarterfinals) and '15 (championship).
 
UH has been on the mainland since Tuesday, Feb. 27 after ending the regular-season at UC Davis and at Cal State Fullerton. This will be UH's fifth road game in its last seven contests, with UH winning three of its last four games away from the island, including a 68-60 win at Cal State Fullerton to conclude the Big West regular-season.
 
UH is led by senior forward Mike Thomas (13.0 ppg/6.0 rpg) who earned all-conference honorable mention after leading the Big West in field goal percentage (.588) in league games.  
 
Game 30
Who: No. 6 Hawai'i (17-12, 8-8 Big West) vs. No. 3 UC Irvine (16-16, 11-5 Big West)
When: Thursday, March 8, 2018
Time: 6:00 p.m. PT/4:00 p.m. HT
Where: The Honda Center (18,336) – Anaheim, Calif.
Television: Fox Prime Ticket (Delayed). Sam Farber (pxp), Corey Maggette (analyst), and Rashuan Haylock (sideline)
Streaming Video: FoxSportsGo/FoxSportsGo app
Radio: ESPN 1420 AM with Bobby Curran and Jeff Portnoy. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui, KPUA on the Big Island, KTOH on Kaua'i, and KNWJ in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
Audio Webcast: ESPN1420am.com/Sideline Hawai'i App.
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Coaches: Eran Ganot is in his third season at UH (59-34).  Russell Turner is in his 8th season at UCI (155-121).
Series Information: UCI leads, 12-6.
 
About UC Irvine: The Anteaters enter the tournament having won eight of their last 10 games...UCI lost its regular-season finale, 90-84, in double-overtime vs. UC Davis that spoiled their chance for a league crown...the Anteaters lead the league in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, and blocks...Evan Leonard is the team's top scorer at 13.5 ppg.