Bren Events Center

IRVINE — One of two seniors being honored on senior night, Nic Campbell stumbled midway through the first half of Thursday's nonconference home finale at the Bren Events Center. Campbell's UC Irvine men's basketball teammates stumbled, briefly, as well in the second half. Neither misstep, however, turned out to be more than an unfortunate footnote to the Anteaters' 73-59 victory in front of 2,479. Campbell, who scored 43 points in two games last week, including a career-high 24 in Saturday's loss at San Francisco, was felled with a right-ankle sprain with 9:32 left in the opening half.

WHAT: Finding things to do with the kids WHERE: Building 14 at the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center, 88 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa WHEN: 10 am. to 4 p.m. INFO: "What's Up for Kids?" provides parents with a calendar of youth events and a resource guide for activities. Admission is free. (714) 708-3247. WHAT: CEO Shootout WHERE: Bren Events Center, 1 West Peltason Drive, UC Irvine WHEN: During halftime of the UC Irvine mens basketball team game, which begins at 7:05 p.m. INFO: Four teams of Orange County executives will battle in a free-throw shooting contest.

UC Irvine senior Jayson Jablonsky, who led the top-ranked Anteaters to victories over Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara last week, has been named National Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter, who was the national and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year as a junior, had a career-high 28 kills in a five-game triumph over USCB Saturday at the Bren Events Center. He had 16 kills in Wednesday's three-game victory at Cal State Northridge.

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team, which went 18-16 last season and lost three of its top four scorers, will play host to Cal Poly Pomona in an exhibition game tonight. Tipoff is set for 7:05 at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters’ probable starting lineup Saturday features Patrick Rembert and Darren Moore in the backcourt, Chad DeCasas at wing, Kevin Bland at power forward and Zack Atkinson at center. Moore and Atkinson are JC transfers. Coach Pat Douglass is in his 12th season at UCI and is the longest-tenured and winningest coach in school history.

When: Tonight, 7 Where: Bren Events Center Breakdown: The UC Irvine men’s basketball team (5-11, 3-1 in conference) has won three of its last four and four of its last six and the Anteaters suddenly find themselves a viable Big West Conference contender, one game behind first-place Long Beach State ... UC Davis (7-10, 2-2) is coming off an 85-74 win at Cal State Fullerton Thursday and has won three of its last five contests ... UCI has won two straight at home, after losing its first four this season at the Bren Events Center ... UCI is paced by 6-foot-5 freshman Eric Wise, who is averaging 12.9 points and 5.7 rebounds.

IRVINE — It all started when someone asked Kelly Smith what she would do if she had a magic wand to change the world. Her answer — to help kids learn and realize what's special about them — sparked a dream that blossomed into the Center for Living Peace in Irvine. "I spent a lot of time as a young mother taking my kids to mommy-and-me classes in what I called the 'bubble' of Orange County," Smith said. "I thought: What if we were having fun and learning about the world outside of our own bubbles at the same time?

The UC Irvine men's basketball team will bid to begin a new winning streak tonight, when it meets Big West Conference rival Cal State Northridge at 7:05 at the Bren Events Center. UCI (6-3, 1-1 in conference) had its five-game winning streak snapped with a 62-45 setback Dec. 30 at UC Santa Barbara. The Matadors (4-7, 2-1) defeated UCSB, 70-50, Sunday at home. UCI is led by junior guards Ross Schraeder (15.6 points per game, including 30 of 63 from three-point range)

BREN EVENTS CENTER -- Jim Paullin, a 7-foot center from Battle Ground High School in Washington, has signed a national letter of intent with the UC Irvine men's basketball program, Anteater Coach Pat Douglass announced. Paullin averaged 13.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game as a junior last season. "Jim is a versatile big man who runs the court well, has good hands and exhibits a soft shooting touch," Douglass said. "He falls in line with our recent depth and the caliber of player we have had at the post position."

BREN EVENTS CENTER - UC Irvine fell to visiting University of the Pacific, 65-53, in a Big West women's basketball game Sunday. Pacific was ahead, 49-39, and went on a 9-3 run with 7:26 remaining to put the game out of reach. The Tigers outrebounded the Anteaters, 34-26, while shooting 52 percent for the game (28-54). Pacific was led by Selena Ho with 16 points and six assists. Vanessa Dupont added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. UCI had a trio of players in double-figures, with Cindy Oparah leading the way with 16 points, four steals and four rebounds.

IRVINE — The opening 11 minutes, 40 seconds weren’t too pretty for the UC Irvine women’s basketball team Saturday. The Anteaters had but one point to show for during that span. They later came within two, but could never grab a lead and lost their Big West Conference game to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at the Bren Events Center. Senior Kirian Ishizaki and juniors Mary Has and Keyonna Johnson each scored 11 points for UCI (3-13, 0-3 in conference). Has also had a game-high nine rebounds and five assists.

IRVINE - It wasn't the box score, so much as the roster that UC Irvine men's basketball coach Russell Turner used to sum up his team's 66-50 Big West Conference loss to visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Thursday. "The one thing I take from this is that we need to get stronger," said Turner, whose team (6-11, 3-2 in conference) was hurt most by Cal Poly big men Will Taylor (16 points), David Hanson (16 points and 12 rebounds and four assists) and Chris Eversley (11 points and eight boards)

IRVINE - UC Irvine freshmen Will Davis and Aaron Wright came up with big plays in the closing minutes to key a hard-fought men's basketball victory Saturday night. But whether they will have the courage to relate their heroics in the future, remains in question. That's because it took a game-tying three-pointer by Wright with 1:09 left, a put-back credited to Davis with 49 seconds remaining, and a blocked shot by Davis with 18 ticks left to help preserve a 75-73 win over Vanguard, a victory that UCI believed should not have been anywhere as precarious as it turned out. Vanguard, an NAIA school that played the game as an exhibition, nearly came away with a signature win that would not have counted on its 6-4 record.

West Coast University will posthumously recognize an alumnus who was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on the 25th anniversary of its disaster. The late astronaut Greg Jarvis will receive the university's first Distinguished Alumnus Award at the private college's commencement Sunday at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center. "Greg represented so many things that West Coast is all about," President Barry Ryan said. "Greg represented a very high level of professional achievement. " Jarvis was one of seven astronauts who died shortly after the Challenger lifted off Jan. 28, 1986, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Dalai Lama will continue with his visit to UC Irvine on Wednesday afternoon despite having to cancel other university visits, a UCI official confirmed Tuesday. His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama will give a talk on compassion and global leadership as part of UCI's Living Peace Series at 1:30 p.m. in the Bren Events Center. The Tibetan spiritual leader was too ill to visit to UCLA on Monday and Cal State Long Beach on Tuesday, according to news reports. The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, will honor Armaan Rowther, the recipient of UCI's XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship, for being an ethical leader, helping to foster peace and creating positive global relations.

IRVINE — It all started when someone asked Kelly Smith what she would do if she had a magic wand to change the world. Her answer — to help kids learn and realize what's special about them — sparked a dream that blossomed into the Center for Living Peace in Irvine. "I spent a lot of time as a young mother taking my kids to mommy-and-me classes in what I called the 'bubble' of Orange County," Smith said. "I thought: What if we were having fun and learning about the world outside of our own bubbles at the same time?

IRVINE — The only four-letter acronym in the Big West Conference is UC Santa Barbara. But for an emerging UC Irvine women's basketball program, it might as well be UC Stumbling Block. The visiting Gauchos, who came in with a 216-27 conference record since the 1995-96 season, and had won 17 of their previous 18 contests against UCI, extended that dominance with a 69-58 victory Thursday night at the Bren Events Center. The win knocked the Anteaters (11-5, 3-1 in conference)

WOMEN'S SOCCER Orange Coast 3, Fullerton 0 COSTA MESA — Kallie Ryker scored twice to pace the host Pirates in the Orange Empire Conference contest Tuesday. Ryker scored in the fourth minute and the 45th minute, while Emily Mizrani added a goal and an assist for OCC (4-2-1, 3-0 in conference). Taryn Bales and Kayla Albin also had assists for OCC. Fullerton is 1-5-1, 1-2. MEN'S SOCCER Orange Coast 3, San Bernardino Valley 2 COSTA MESA — After the host Pirates saw their 2-0 lead disappear, David Casty converted an assist from Steven Lujan in the 79th minute for the game-winner in a nonconference clash Tuesday.

John Caine, a former UC Irvine athletic director, passed away last July 9 in Idaho at age 85. Caine served as UCI's A.D. from 1983-89 before becoming special assistant to the chancellor for athletic policy and planning. He retired in 1990. During Caine's tenure, the Bren Events Center was constructed, opening Jan. 8, 1987. He also added intercollegiate status for the men's and women's soccer, and men's volleyball programs. He and his wife, Marilyn, resided in Elkhorn, Idaho, for the past 18 years.

IRVINE — The options not already narrowed by the diminishing schedule were further depleted by excessive fouls for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team Saturday night. So, after Anteaters’ star Eric Wise fouled out with 1:42 left, just more than five minutes after senior center Zack Atkinson had already been disqualified against visiting Cal State Northridge, there remained little else for UCI Coach Pat Douglass but to see if someone else could come up big. Enter 6-foot-8 sophomore reserve Adam Folker, who blocked a shot and pounced on the rebound to thwart the Matadors’ attempt to erase a one-point deficit in the closing seconds.

IRVINE — With 12:49 left in the game, a brief physical skirmish broke out between players from both teams that resulted in a pair of technical fouls. But for the UC Irvine men’s basketball program, which had lost four straight and seven of its last eight, including a 13-point nonconference setback at Cal State Bakersfield Wednesday, push had come to shove well before tipoff of Saturday’s rematch with the Roadrunners at the Bren Events Center. The result was an inspired effort that produced a 76-63 triumph for the Anteaters.