DAVIS, Calif. --- In a battle for first place in the Big West Conference, UC Davis overcame an 18-point deficit in the first half and went on to defeat UC Irvine, 74-65, at the Pavilion in Davis Saturday night.

With the win, the Aggies (13-8 overall) took over sole possession of first with a 5-1 record while the Anteaters, who lost their second straight game, fell to 13-11 and 6-2.

UCI connected on 25 field goals to 18 for UC Davis, but the Aggies made a season-high 35 free throws in 46 attempts to UCI's 11 of 16.

The Anteaters built a 29-11 lead with 6:49 left in the first half after a pair of free throws by redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard before the Aggies closed the half on a 16-4 run to close within 33-27 at the break.

UC Davis continued its run, scoring the first 10 points of the second half to lead 37-33 on two free throws by Brynton Lemar with 17:04 remaining.

Freshman guard Eyassu Worku, who led UCI with 18 points, broke the Anteaters' scoreless drought on a layup with 15:03 left to close the gap to 37-35.

The difference was still two points as the Aggies led 47-45 after a UCI layup from senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos with 9:06 remaining, but UC Davis gradually extended its lead to 70-57 on a free throw by Darius Graham with 1:11 left. The Aggies hit 22 of 28 free throws in the second half.

Worku added four assists and four rebounds for the Anteaters and freshman forward Tommy Rutherford registered his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, plus had a career-best four blocked shots.

Senior guard Jaron Martin scored 11 points and Hazzard nine, while sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as he has averaged 12.7 boards over the last three contests.

Chima Moneke led UC Davis with 22 points and nine rebounds while Lemar added 13 points. Graham added 12 points and five assists.

The Aggies shot 40 percent from the field and UCI 36.2 percent. The Anteaters had a 41-32 advantage on the boards.

"We've got to respond better," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "We haven't done that well these last two games. I want to get back to playing at a higher level."

UCI travels to Long Beach State Saturday night for an 8:00 Big West game on ESPNU.