Box Score SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's basketball team used a 19-3 run in the second half to defeat Santa Clara, 61-49, Thursday night at the Leavey Center.

UCI improves to 4-0 on the season. It's the 'Eaters best start since opening the season 4-0 in 2015-16. SCU falls to 0-2 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Collin Welp finished with a game-high 12 points off the bench on 5-11 shooting from the floor
> Eyassu Worku and Max Hazzard also finished in double-digits with 11 points apiece
> Elston Jones grabbed a game-high eight rebounds while Welp and Hazzard dished out three assists each
> UCI shot 38.2 percent (21-55) from the floor and 31.3 percent (5-16) from 3-point range
> The 'Eaters held the Broncos to 29.6 percent (16-54) overall
> UCI controlled the boards out-rebounding SCU 44-34 while both team committed 15 turnovers each
> The 'Eaters out-scored SCU 32-16 in the paint but the Broncos held a 25-21 edge off the bench
> The lead changed six times
> SCU was led by Tahj Eaddy and Keshawn Justice with 11 points each

TURNING POINTS
First half
> Both teams went back-and-forth throughout the start of the half as neither team would gain more than a four-point advantage
> The Broncos made back-to-back 3-pointers to go up, 19-14, with 6:44 to play, their largest lead of the half
> Welp made a layup followed by two-made free throws from Robert Cartwright to knot the game, 23-23, with 40 seconds to play before SCU answered with a layup and a made free throw to take a slight 26-24 lead into the locker rooms
> UCI shot 29.7 percent (8-27) from the floor while the Broncos were 9-27 (.333) overall
> Hazzard and Welp had five points each while Rutherford grabbed five boards

Second half
> SCU opened up the final frame on a 6-3 run to take a 32-27 lead with 15:11 to play
> The 'Eaters responded as Welp made a layup to jump start a 19-3 run that gave UCI a 12-point, 50-38, lead with 5:49 remaining
> Worku made a layup followed by a 3-pointer to give UCI its largest lead of the game, 57-43, with 2:29 showing on the clock
> The Broncos scored six-straight points to bring the game within eight, 57-49, with just under two minutes to play but the Anteaters made three-straight free throws to earn the 61-49 victory
> UCI shot 46.4 percent (13-28) in the second frame 

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER ON HIS TEAM'S 4-0 START
"Having early season success is the hardest thing to handle in college basketball. We were a little soft in the first half and just didn't play with the intensity we needed to. In the second half, we responded much better and I was happy to see the improvement. I thought our defense was really solid in the second half."

NOTES
> Welp led UCI in scoring for the second-straight game
> UCI won its seventh-straight road game, the third-longest active road-winning streak in DI men's basketball 
> 49 points scored by an opponent is the fewest allowed by the Anteaters this season
> It was the third time this season UCI trailed at half time and came back to win