The top two contenders for The Big West regular season title are set for another ESPN national television wildcard broadcast as first-place UC Irvine hosts UC San Diego. 

The Anteaters (18-3, 8-1 BW) welcome the Tritons (17-4, 7-2 BW) to the Bren Events Center on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. PT, nationally broadcasted on ESPNU. 

UC Irvine, the defending Big West regular-season champion, has won eight of its last nine games and is currently ranked fifth in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Madness Top 25 with one first-place vote. The Anteaters are 7-0 at home this season, riding a 21-game winning streak at the Bren Events Center. Their last loss on the home hardwood came on Feb. 23, 2023, coincidentally against UC San Diego. 

The Tritons, fully eligible to compete in the postseason after completing a four-year reclassification period to Division I, are currently ranked 11th in the Mid-Major Top 25. 

A hotly-contested series over the past two seasons, the two teams split their contests in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. Earlier this year on Jan. 11 in La Jolla, UC Irvine defeated UC San Diego 60-52 in front of a sold out crowd at LionTree Arena. 

The Tritons are led offensively by the senior duo of Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and Tyler McGhie who average 19.7 and 17.0 points per game on the season. Tait-Jones is the national leader in free throws made (150) and attempts (186), while McGhie is in the national top-10 in three-pointers per game, connecting on 3.52 attempts from distance per night. Additionally, Hayden Gray is leading the country with 3.38 steals per game as UCSD holds a +7.4 turnover margin on the season, the best in NCAA Division I.  

Led by senior center Bent Leuchten, the Anteaters have four players averaging double-figures in scoring. The native of Karlsfeld, Bavaria, Germany, puts up an average of 15.6 points per game with a Big West second-best 9.0 rebounds to go along 1.1 blocks per game as a force on both ends of the floor. Devin Tillis adds 13.6 points and 8.2 rebounds, while Justin Hohn (12.0) and Myles Che (11.9) provide solid support. 

There are two more regular-season Big West games slated to appear on ESPN2 or ESPNU, which will be selected through a “wildcard” format. Pairings are determined and announced at least 10 days prior to each contest. Wildcard broadcast information, game times and potential pairings can be viewed here.  The next wildcard pairing for the upcoming Feb. 13 contest will be selected and announced early next week. 

ESPN Networks will also broadcast both Big West men’s semifinal matchups at the 2025 Hercules Tires Big West Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1 on Friday, March 14 and the championship game on Saturday, March 15. For additional championship information, please visit BigWest.org/2025.    

All Big West men’s and women’s basketball games throughout the remainder of the regular season and all contests from the 2025 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by Credit Union 1are slated to air digitally to subscribers on ESPN+. To sign up, please visit espn.com/watch. Hawai’i home games will air locally on Spectrum Sports. View the Spectrum channel listings here.     
 

About The Big West   
The Big West is an NCAA Division I member with 11 members with the shared goal of empowering every student-athlete in competition and in life and uniting its university communities through championship experiences. Formed in 1969, The Big West membership consists of Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai‘i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The Big West is united in the pursuit of boundless opportunities, enduring integrity, bold activism, fearless innovation and the pacific spirit of freedom, exploration and progress.   
   
The Big West sponsors 21 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s water polo and men's and women's swimming and diving. For more information, visit BigWest.org or follow The Big West on X @BigWestSports.