2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
| 2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball | |
|---|---|
Western Slam Champions | |
NIT, Runner-Up | |
| Conference | Big West Conference |
| Record | 32–7 (17–3 Big West) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Bren Events Center (Capacity: 5,000) |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego † | 18 | – | 2 | .900 | 30 | – | 5 | .857 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | 32 | – | 7 | .821 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 16 | – | 19 | .457 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawai'i | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 3 | – | 17 | .150 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 1 | – | 19 | .050 | 6 | – | 26 | .188 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2025 Big West tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2024–25 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California as a member of the Big West Conference. The Anteaters were led by 15th-year head coach Russell Turner.
This year the Anteaters matched their best start since the 1980–81 season, as both teams won nine straight to open the season. This year, the Anteaters also have won the most games on the road in team history during the regular season (14), and led the nation with that number.
This year marks the first time in program history where the Anteaters have been ranked number one in the Mid-Major College Basketball Insider Poll. Additionally, UC Irvine received votes in both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll for multiple weeks. The team ranked twenty-fourth in the first NCAA NET Rankings of the 2024–25 season, the highest ranking in program history. Despite their 28 regular season wins, they were not invited to the NCAA tournament, and thus received a #1 seed in the NIT tournament. Only two teams have ever finished the regular season with 28 wins and been excluded from March Madness, the other team being Indiana State. Ironically, both teams finished runner-up in the NIT. This is the third consecutive year UC Irvine has been invited to the tournament. This is the first time UC Irvine has won a National Invitation Tournament game since 1986, and the furthest they've ever gotten, finishing runner-up to Chattanooga.