DAVIS, Calif. – UC Irvine earned a 64-48 win over UC Davis Thursday night, clinching the Big West Tournament No. 1 seed and at least a share of the regular-season championship.

UCI needs one more win to clinch the Big West regular-season title outright. The Anteaters improve to 24-5 on the season, winning their 10^th-straight game, and 12-1 in the Big West.

The Aggies drop to 10-17 overall and 6-7 in the conference.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Elston Jones tallied his third career double-double with a game-high 12 points on 6-7 shooting from the floor and 12 rebounds. Jones also swatted two blocks
> Eyassu Worku finished in double-digits with 10 points while Jonathan Galloway grabbed 10 rebounds and scored eight points
> Max Hazzard had nine points and two assists
> UCI dominated UCD on the boards, 44-22
> The Anteaters shot 49 percent (22-45) from the floor and held the Aggies to just 30 percent (16-53)
> Matt Neufeld led the Aggies with 10 points
> UCI out-scored UCD 30-22 off the bench

TURNING POINTS
First Half
> Worku scored five quick points to put the 'Eaters up early, 10-5, at 16:51
> The Aggies went on a 6-2 run to make it a two-point game, 17-15, with just over 10 minutes left
> Welp hit a three-pointer that started an 8-2 run that had UCI up by double-digits, 27-17 (5:04)
> A Worku jumper kept UCI up by 10, 31-21 with just over two minutes left but the Aggies would make back-to-back layups to make it 31-25 at the half
> Worku had a team-best nine points in the frame

Second half
> A Jones layup at 18:19 started a 6-0 run that put the 'Eaters in a double-digit lead, 42-28, they would not relinquish
> UCI went on an 11-4 run to gain a 19-point lead, 53-34 (10:10). JC Butler had five points in that stretch
> A made free throw from Worku at 4:12 made it a 20-point game, 62-42
> UC Davis scored the last four points as UCI would win, 64-48

ELSTON JONES ON TONIGHT'S WIN
"We've been working hard all year. We have great team chemistry and everyone is bought in to what we are doing each week and we are focused on every task. No matter where we are seeded in the tournament we will continue to play hard and focus on advancing through tournament."

UP NEXT
> UCI plays at UC Riverside Friday, March 2 at 5 p.m. for a chance to clinch the regular-season title outright

NOTES
> UCI wins its fourth Big West regular-season title under the Russell Turner era and third time in four years
> The Anteaters went undefeated during the month of February and are riding their longest winning streak since the 2000-01 season
> UCI will clinch the regular-season title outright with a win at UC Riverside on Saturday
> The Anteaters sweep the home and away series with the Aggies
> Max Hazzard has recorded a three in 20-straight games
> UCD's 48 points scored by an opponent is the third lowest this season