Anteaters’ coach faces Dons in his 300th game

SAN FRANCISCO AT UC IRVINE

WHEN: Tonight, 7:05

WHERE: Bren Events Center

RADIO: KUCI/88.9 FM

BREAKDOWN: It’s the 300th game at UCI for Coach Pat Douglass, who began his UCI career with a 75-59 loss to USF at the Bren Center in 1997 ... Douglass brings a 156-143 record into the contest, needing just eight wins to surpass Bill Mulligan atop the program’s career victories list ... UCI ended a four-game losing streak with an 87-53 romp over Division II Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 8 and hopes to end a six-game series losing streak to the Dons, who have never lost to the Anteaters ... Senior forward Patrick Sanders leads UCI with 12.9 points per game, followed by senior center Darren Fells (11.3), senior reserve guard Chuma Awaji (9.9) and junior forward Kevin Bland (9.0) ... Junior guard Brett Lauer, expected to make his third straight start, leads the Big West Conference in three-point percentage (13 of 21 for 61.9%), but he is eight for 12 from beyond the arc in his only two games at the Bren (67%) ... UCI shoots 39.9% as a team from threedom, which ranks 49th nationally, and its 75% free-throw percentage ranks 28th among 328 Division I programs ... USF, which lost at UC Santa Barbara, 74-69, but topped visiting Pacific, 84-57, earlier this season, is led by sophomore forward Dior Lowhorn (22.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game) ... Junior guard Manny Quezada (16.4 ppg) scored 17 points in the Dons’ 76-62 home win over UCI Feb. 17 in a BracketBuster game.

— Barry Faulkner