IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine shot a season-best 55.8 percent from the floor to beat Cal Poly 74-47 at the Bren Events Center Thursday.
 
The Anteaters went 29-52 from the field, tying the best field goal percentage of the season with the mark hit earlier against UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
UCI wins their ninth straight game to improve to 23-5 overall and 11-1 in the Big West. UCI is 11-2 at home this season. Cal Poly falls to 5-19 overall and 1-10 in league action.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>All 12 Anteaters that played scored at least two points with all but one player recording at least one rebound
>Forward Jonathan Galloway and guard Max Hazzard led the Anteaters with 14 points each
>Galloway tied his career-high 14 points for the third time in four games, going 5-6 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. The graduate student also added six rebounds, two steals and a block
>Hazzard knocked down 5-5 from the field, including two from beyond the arc and went 2-2 from the free throw line. The guard tied his season-high with five assists 
>Collin Welp led all players with eight rebounds to go along with six points
>Cal Poly was led by Donovan Fields with 12 points
>UCI outscored Cal Poly 19-3 in fast break points and 40-28 in points in the paint

TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF
>UCI scored eight points in the first two minutes with Eyassu Worku accounting for four of those then  extended the run to 13-0 on a Jonathan Galloway soft floater from Spencer Rivers at 15:26
>Cal Poly finally got on the board with a layup by Marcellus Garrick at 14:27 (11-2)
>UCI was shooting 84.6 % from the floor (11-13), including 4-4 from three-point range at the 7:25 mark after a Galloway dunk gave the Anteaters a 28-10 lead
>An Evan Leonard fast break layup gave UCI its largest lead of 22 (32-10) at 4:31 
>UCI would go scoreless for three minutes as the Mustangs scored six unanswered to close to 34-16
>A Robert Cartwright layup would end the scoring, giving UCI a 36-18 lead at the break
 
SECOND HALF
>UCI started off the second half just as hot, scoring the first six out of the break on a Tommy Rutherford basket and a pair of free throws by Galloway and Hazzard, 42-18 (17:11)
>A 8-0 spurt capped by a Collin Welp bucket extended the UCI advantage to 52-23 with 13:28 remaining
>Solomon Ruddell would score the final four points of the game as UCI would win 74-47

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER ON TONIGHT'S WIN
"We were ready like I expected us to be in a game like this at home. I thought we dictated defensively, we gave them some shots that they wanted but they missed. Our level of intensity is different than most teams are used to facing on any given night. We maintained intensity throughout the game."
 
NOTES
> UCI extended its winning streak to nine games, the most in the Russell Turner era
>Solomon Ruddell came off the bench to record a career-high six points 
> Cal Poly's 18 points at the half is the fourth lowest by an opponent this season
>Galloway recorded his 31^st block of the season
>Hazzard has hit a three-pointer in 20 consecutive games
>Spencer Rivers drained his fourth trey of the year
>Tonight's game was a Play Pink game in support of Breast Cancer Awareness

UP NEXT
>UCI will hit the road for the next three contests, visiting UC Davis next Thursday (Feb. 28)