IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's basketball team defeated La Verne, 112-57, in an exhibition game Friday evening at the Bren Events Center.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Eyassu Worku finished with a game-high 20 points
> Collin Welp, Darrian Traylor and Elston Jones each scored in double-digits with 19, 12, and 12 points, respectively
> Traylor made four 3-pointers while Welp had three
> Jonathan Galloway led the game with eight rebounds while Jones had three blocks
> Robert Cartwright dished out 11 assists
> UCI shot 58.4 percent (45-77) from the field and 46.2 percent (12-26) from behind the three-point line
> The 'Eaters forced 18 turnovers and had 11 steals
> Sinai Enoch led La Verne with 16 points
> The Leopards shot 29.3 percent (17-58) overall

TURNING POINTS
First Half 
> UCI held the lead for the entire game shooting 75.9 percent (22-29) from the field 
> The Anteaters went 8-for-11 (.727) from three-point range in the first half
> UCI jumped out to a 10-3 lead with 15:17 on the clock
> La Verne made back-to-back jumpers to bring the game within four, 11-7 at 14:16
> UCI made three-straight 3-pointers to take a 16-point, 25-9, lead with 11 minutes to play 
> Jonathan Galloway's jumper started an 11-point run for UCI as the 'Eaters stretched the lead, 54-25, with 1:29 to play
> Traylor capped the offensive half with his fourth three-pointer to make it 57-28 heading into the locker rooms
 
Second Half
> UCI kept a comfortable lead throughout the second half, out-scoring La Verne 55-28 in the second frame
> UCI went on a 17-point run to stretch the lead, 88-36, with 10:37 to play
> Welp led the 'Eaters will 11 points while Jones had eight in the half
> Devin Cole, Solomon Ruddell and Spencer Rivers all scored in the second frame
 
COACH TURNER ON THE EXHIBITION
"In general I thought that we handled the ball well and made good decisions. We played unselfishly on the offensive end and I think Robert Cartwright did a great job getting the ball to our players to score. Defensively, we were good but we are going to keep working to get better."
 
NOTES
Collin Welp, Solomon Ruddell, Devin Cole, Aiden Krause, JC Butler and Robert Cartwright all appeared in their first game for UCI
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine tips off the regular-season with a game against Idaho Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.