The No. 12 seeded Oregon Ducks have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time under head basketball coach Dana Altman. Now, it's time to get to know their next opponent, UC-Irvine, which faces the Ducks on Sunday, March 24th from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The Anteaters won their second Big West Tournament title in the last five years, and they won the regular season title for the fourth time in six years while playing in the Big West Tournament championship game for the third straight year. No. 13 seeded UC-Irvine Anteaters won 16 straight games in the regular season and the Big West Conference Tournament. In the game before Oregon's on Friday, UCI upset No. 4 seed Kansas State at the SAP Center in San Jose. UCI's 31 wins in the 2018-19 basketball season are a school record, and their 17-game winning streak is also a school record going into Sunday's game. Record: 31-5 Coach: Russell Turner, 9th year (187-127 at UCI) Last 10: 10-0 Common Foes: Stanford — Oregon has no common opponents played with the UCI Anteaters. Here is all you need to know about Oregon's next opponent<doc-sep>SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For more than 50 years, the UC Irvine men's basketball program has existed in relative anonymity. Without an NIT win to their credit in the past 30 years, let alone one in the NCAA tournament, the Anteaters have never had much of a chance at breaking into the consciousness of Southern California's sporting public. It wasn't necessarily a source of frustration for those around the program because it was a simple, easy-to-understand reality. It was always going to take a special moment for that to change, if only momentarily. It finally came Friday as the 13th-seeded Anteaters beat fourth-seeded Kansas State 70-64 to secure their first NCAA tournament victory and the first round's most significant upset. "We could have easily come out here tonight against a Big 12 team like a lot of other 14-seeds did and get blown out," Irvine coach Russell Turner said. "But we seemed to gain momentum with this group off of our confidence, and I think that's because we've earned it. And so that's fun, you know." Tournament Challenge 2019 How's your bracket? Check out Tournament Challenge for live updates with a chance to win $10,000 in Amazon.com gift cards and a trip for two to the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational! Turner pointed out how, a few weeks ago, his team's place in the state's pecking order was starting to change. UCLA and USC were both down this season, and fellow University of California system school California was a disaster. Meanwhile, the Anteaters ran off 13 consecutive wins to close the regular season. "UC Irvine folks live in the shadows, live like little brothers to UCLA and SC and maybe some others -- Cal, Stanford, San Diego State," Turner said. "Well, little brother has been in the weight room, getting better, getting ready for a chance like this. So I'm really happy for these players to be able to work so hard for something everybody can see and then accomplish it. But I'm also really excited for the fans of our program who also seem to have endured feeling like little brothers. We need to stick our chests out a little bit right now, I believe." That Irvine's breakthrough performance came in a season when UCLA didn't qualify for the tournament was especially satisfying for its leading scorer, Max Hazzard. His grandfather, the late Walt Hazzard, was the NCAA tournament MVP in 1964, when he led the Bruins to their first NCAA title and later coached the program after a 10-year NBA career. Had the Bruins extended a scholarship offer to Max Hazzard, he said he would have accepted it. "They were recruiting a lot of my teammates in high school, so obviously they would always talk to me," he said. "But I wasn't really sure if they wanted me or if that was just a kind of respect thing for my name." Against Kansas State, Hazzard proved -- as followers of the program have long understood -- he is more than just a name. The redshirt junior hit five 3-pointers and finished tied with teammate Evan Leonard with a game-high 19 points. "We've had three goals all year, and that was to win the regular-season championship, the tournament championship and advance in the NCAA tournament," Hazzard said. "And that doesn't just mean one game. We have another game on Sunday, and we're planning to put ourselves in position to win again, and hopefully we can do that and play into next weekend."<doc-sep>
IRVINE (CBSLA) — In the end, the score did not matter as much as what UC Irvine’s participation in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament meant to students and alumni — there’s always next year. The Anteaters lost to the Oregon Ducks Sunday night 73-54. When it was close, the fans were ecstatic. KCAL9’s Laurie Perez saw this first hand at a watch party on the UC Irvine campus. She reported that it was “a great atmosphere to watch the game. The crowd cheered as hard as they could.” While it was not in the cards, the fans said they loved the effort. Anteater Nation lived and died with every basket. A comeback effort in the second half briefly had fans dreaming of moving on to the next round. The game ended in a painfully familiar way to the Anteater’s first and only other tournament. “Very similar to when we played Louisville in 2015. I mean we stuck with them, I mean, we just came up a little bit short,” said alum Connor Crowley. If the crowd at the viewing party could have willed the team to win, they would have done so. “The first game they did [a] very good job so I was so excited so I came here tonight,” said Yoshi Sawi. Hope and heart weren’t enough. The Ducks proved too mighty. Still fans said they were grateful for the opportunity. “I’m so thankful of UCI alumni, Anteaters right here. We’re gonna come back, make a comeback next year, and we’re going to win the NCAA tournament,” said Clinton Ng. Next season can’t come soon enough for some. “I’m just so proud that they got this far,” said Fritzi Washington. Perez reported that to a man and woman, everyone said the Anteaters will be back and just about everyone said it will be next season. For more about the Anteaters, check out their official website.