UC Irvine Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Anteaters

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 22: Evan Leonard #14 of the UC Irvine Anteaters dribbles the ball past Cartier Diarra #2 of the Kansas State Wildcats in the first half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 22, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images) /

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: Jonathan Galloway #5 and Evan Leonard #14 and Elston Jones #50 of the UC Irvine Anteaters celebrate a 70-64 win against the Kansas State Wildcats for their first school tournament win during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 22, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Key Storylines

How will UC Irvine respond with other Big West schools closing the talent gap?

For a team that is not as deep as they were a season ago, it is pretty clear that the gap between that team and the rest of the conference is closer. Everyone now thinks UC Irvine is human, so they have them in their sights and think they have what it takes to dethrone them. With the target now on their back, I think these UC Irvine guys will play with a chip on their shoulder and be reluctant to let anybody near them at the top of the league.

How will they make up for their loss of backcourt depth?

It is true that UC Irvine’s backcourt has taken quite a significant hit. I think they can minimize the pain of this by giving good minutes to the guys that did not get much of a chance back their last season. Additionally, I feel that the front court will pick up some slack and that the Anteaters may even be forced to play larger this year. Russell Turner has his plan and I am certain that he is confident in what he will have set within the next few weeks.