SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Max Hazzard's eight points in overtime helped UC Irvine defeat UC Santa Barbara, 66-62, at the Thunderdome Thursday night.

UCI remains first in the Big West Standings with a 6-1 record and improves to 18-5 on the season. UCSB drops to 4-2 in the BWC and 15-5 on the year.

Hazzard made back-to-back three's in the first two minutes of OT to give UCI a lead, 62-56, it would not relinquish. Hazzard sealed the extra-time win with two-made free throws at the end of the frame.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Hazzard finished with a game-high 15 points on 5-13 shooting overall
> Collin Welp and Tommy Rutherford finished in double-digits with 12 and 11 points, respectively
> Rutherford also grabbed a team-best nine boards while Evan Leonard and Eyassu Worku dished out three assists each
> Jonathan Galloway finished with eight rebounds, including six on the offensive side. Four of those offensive boards came in OT
> Galloway also had three blocks and nine points
> UCI shot 45.9 percent (.459) overall and 4-14 (.286) from long range while holding the Gauchos to just 33.3 percent from the floor and 27.3 percent from long range
> The Anteaters held advantages in rebounds (44-40), blocks (8-2) and points off the bench (19-11)

First Half
> UCI went on an 11-0 run to take a 13-4 lead at 12:05. Welp had six-straight points in that stretch on a layup followed by back-to-back jump shots
> UCSB answered scoring eight-straight to make it a one-point, 13-12, game with 9:28 left
> The Gauchos used an 8-0 run to go up, 20-15, with 6:26 remaining before Leonard hit a three-pointer to cut the UCSB lead to three
> A Welp layup started an 11-2 run down the stretch that gave UCI a 28-27 advantage with under 10 seconds left
> UCSB's Max Heidegger was fouled and made 1-2 free throws in the final seconds to make it a tied game, 28-28, at the intermission

Second Half
> The duo of Galloway and Hazzard combined for six points to give UCI a 34-28 lead early on (19:26)
> The 'Eaters maintained the lead, going up by six, 43-37, after a Rutherford jumped with 9:21 left
> UCSB used a 6-0 run to knot the game, 47-47, at 5:18
> The teams exchanged back-and-forth points as the game tied twice more to make it 54-54 with just over a minute left
> UCSB's Sow made a layup with 44 seconds to play to give the Gauchos a 56-54 lead before Galloway grabbed an offensive rebound and put in the layup to knot the game, 56-56, with 29 seconds showing on the clock
> Neither team would score as time expired, sending the game to OT

Overtime
> Hazzard's three's put the 'Eaters up by six, 62-56, (3:27) before UCSB answered with a three-pointer, 62-59 (3:02)
> Galloway made a put-back dunk with 2:17 left to give UCI a five-point, 64-59, lead
>The Gauchos made a three but Hazzard's two made free throws in the final 20 seconds secured the 66-62 win

MAX HAZZARD ON TONIGHT'S WIN
"It feels good to win tough games like this. We are going to have these type of games down the stretch so it was exciting to be able to get the win."

NOTES
> UCI is 3-1 in overtime this season and 3-0 in Big West overtime games
> The 'Eaters have played in OT in four of their last nine games
> Galloway tied a season-best three blocks
> UCI has won nine-straight BWC road games
> The Anteaters improve to 7-1 in the month of January

UP NEXT
> UCI plays at Long Beach State Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.