2016 – 17 UC Irvine Anteaters men 's basketball team represented the University of California , Irvine during the 2016 – 17 NCAA Division I men 's basketball season . The Anteaters were led by seventh year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center as members of the Big West Conference . They finished the season 21 – 15 , 12 – 4 in Big West play to win the regular season conference championship . As the No. 1 seed in the Big West Tournament , they defeated UC Riverside and Long Beach State before losing to UC Davis in the championship game . As a No. 1 seed in their conference tournament who failed to win their conference tournament title , UC Irvine received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament . As a No. 8 seed , they were defeated by No. 1 seed Illinois State in the first round . The team won their third Big West Regular Season title in the past four years and their 5th straight season with at least 20 wins . The Anteaters finished the 2015 – 16 season 28 – 10 , 13 – 3 in Big West play to win a share of the regular season Big West championship . They defeated Cal Poly in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Long Beach State . They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated North Dakota , Louisiana – Lafayette , and Coastal Carolina to advance to the championship game . In the championship game , they lost to Columbia
Big West Tournament
2017 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team