‘Eaters Earn Defensive Win at Cal State Fullerton, 63-46

Saturday, January 12

Fullerton, CA

6:00 PM

UC Irvine

14-4 (2-0)

Cal State Fullerton

4-12 (0-2)

Team	1	2	F
UC Irvine	32	31	63
Cal State Fullerton	12	34	46

‘Eaters Earn Defensive Win at Cal State Fullerton, 63-46

January 12, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FULLERTON, Calif. – UC Irvine held Cal State Fullerton to just 12 points in the first half, en route to securing a 63-46 victory in Big West Conference play, Saturday night at Titan Gym.

UCI improves to 2-0 in Big West action and 14-4 on the season. The Titans fall to 0-2 in conference play and 4-12 overall.

2??-0?? in @BigWestMBB ! UCI defeats Cal State Fullerton 63-46. #TWZ

Final stat leaders:
Points - Welp (12)
Rebounds - Galloway (11)
Blocks - Galloway/Jones/Rutherford (2)

Shooting: fg - 43.1%, 3fg - 37.5%, ft - 87.5% pic.twitter.com/TLZCqWnUWK
— UCI M Basketball (@UCImbb) January 13, 2019

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Collin Welp and Tommy Rutherford finished in double-digit with 12 and 10 points, respectively
> Rutherford was 2-2 from three-point range
> Galloway grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and finished with two blocks. Jones and Rutherford also tallied two blocks a piece
> 10 different Anteaters scored
> As a team, UCI shot 43.1 percent (25-58) overall and 37.5 percent (6-16) from behind the arc while holding the Titans to 31.5 percent (17-54) from the floor and 0-11 from three-point range
> The Anteaters held advantages in rebounds (42-34), assists (13-3), blocks (6-2) and points off the bench (32-6)
> CSUF was led by Austen Awosika with 17 points

First Half
> UCI attacked from the start, leading the entire half
> A Jones layup started an 8-0 run that put UCI up 11-3 (13:10)
> John Edgar Jr. hit a jumper followed by a three-pointer to give the 'Eaters a double-digit lead, 16-5, with 10:42 left to play
> UCI out-scored CSUF 19-2 over the following seven minutes to go up 30-7 (2:08)
> The Titans scored four points in the final two minutes to make it a 20-point game, 32-12, at the half
> Edgar Jr. had seven points in the fame while Galloway grabbed five rebounds

Second Half
> The Titans opened up the half with two made free throws before the two teams exchanged back-and-forth baskets to make it 38-19 with 16:08 to play
> UCI scoring 10-straight points to take its largest lead of the game, 55-23, at 10:17. The stretch was capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Rutherford and Evan Leonard
> Spencer Rivers made back-to-back layups giving the 'Eaters a 31-point, 63-32 advantage with just over four minutes left
> The Titans would score the final 14 points of the contest to make the final score 63-46

JONATHAN GALLOWAY ON HIS TONIGHT'S DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE
"We were just locked in on defense. We remembered what happened last year in the championship game and we wanted to get it back. We were all locked into the game plan and played together every possession."

Senior Jonathan Galloway's stellar defensive effort helped UCI to a 63-46 win over Cal State Fullerton. #TogetherWeZot #RipEm pic.twitter.com/HTdLJ3BmaB
— UCI M Basketball (@UCImbb) January 13, 2019

NOTES
> 46 points allowed by an opponent is the fewest since the 'Eaters held UC Riverside to 40 (1/24/18)
>12 points in the first half is the fewest allowed by an opponent this season
> UCI has held opponents to 20 points or less in the first half for the third-straight game and fifth time this season
> The 'Eaters are 8-0 when holding opponents to 60 points or less
> Galloway has registered a block in 11-consecutive games