SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's basketball team erased a 14-point half time deficit to win its season-opener against San Diego, 76-73, at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

UCI (1-0) trailed by as much as 18 points in the first half (:47) but outscored USD (0-1) 42-25 in the second half to complete the comeback victory.

INSIDE THE NUMEBRS
> Three Anteaters finished with double-digit points as Evan Leonard led the way with 19, going 10-10 at the free throw line
> Tommy Rutherford, playing in his home town, added 16 points while Collin Welp had 13. Rutherford finished with six rebounds while Welp had four
> John Edgar Jr. led the team with seven rebounds. Eyassu Worku dished out three assists
> The 'Eaters shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the floor and held the Toreros to just 39 percent (23-59) overall including 23.1 percent (6-26) in the second half
> Braun Hartfield led USD with 17 points and eight rebounds
> Eight different Anteaters scored at least two points
> UCI outscored USD 26-16 in the paint and 11-5 on second chance points

TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF
> Rutherford got the 'Eaters on the board with a jumper and made free throw before Brad Greene made a layup to give UCI a 5-2 lead (17:07)
> USD would make three consecutive three-pointers to take the lead, 22-17 (10:29)
> A Worku jumper cut the Torero lead to six, 25-19 (8:34) but USD used an eight-point run to take a double-digit lead, 35-22
> An under the basket layup from Isaiah Lee brought the game within 10 points, 37-28, with 3:11 remaining
> UCI struggled from the three-point line finishing 0-5 for the half but went 12-24 (.500) from the floor overall
> USD outscored UCI 6-2 in the final two minutes to take a 48-34 lead into the half

SECOND HALF
> UCI opened the second half on an 8-2 run to cut the USD lead, 50-42 (18:02)
> USD would go up by as much as 15 points, 61-46, with 13:10 remaining
> A Rutherford jumper started a 9-0 run for the 'Eaters that brought them within one, 62-61. Edgar Jr. capped the run with a jumper at 5:55
> Leonard forced a USD turnover and made a fast break layup to give UCI a lead it would not relinquish, 65-64 (4:23)
> The game would tie three times down the stretch but UCI held on for the 76-73 win

NOTES
> UCI won its season opener for the second year in a row
> Austin Johnson (6 points) and Isaiah Lee (2) scored their first career points
> UCI moves to 13-14 all-time against USD
> The Anteaters have won 10-straight games on the road, a streak that dates back to Dec. 28, 2018 at Pacific

UP NEXT
> UCI travels to Pepperdine (Nov. 9) for a 5 p.m. start.