ANAHEIM, Calif. – Robert Cartwright's 16 second half points helped lift UC Irvine over Long Beach State, 75-67, in the Big West Tournament semifinals Friday evening at the Honda Center.
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UCI will appear in its eighth tournament final, including its third consecutive championship appearance.
The Anteaters are the first Big West team, current or former, to win 29 games in a season since national runner-up UNLV went 34-1 in 1990-91.
UCI set a new school record 29 wins improving its season record to 29-5.
The Anteaters are also riding a program-record 15 game winning streak. It is the most by a Big West team since Pacific strung 22 together in 2004-05.
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LBSU ends its season at 15-19.
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Cartwright tied a career-high 17 points, 16 of which came in the second half. He shot 7-13 from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
> UCI will play No. 3 Cal State Fullerton in the Championship Game at 9 p.m. PT
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> UCI dominated the paint, out-scoring LBSU 50-22
> Including Cartwright, a total of five Anteaters finished in double-digits.
Max Hazzard finished with 14 points while
Evan Leonard,
Tommy Rutherford and
Jonathan Galloway had 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively
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Elston Jones had a team-high seven rebounds while
Jonathan Galloway grabbed six and swatted two blocks
> The Anteaters held advantages in rebounds (38-30) and second chance points (16-4)
> The 'Eaters shot 49.1 percent from the floor and held the 49ers to 41.7 percent (25-60) overall
> Deishuan Booker led LBSU with 21 points while Temidayo Yussuf grabbed eight boards
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TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF
>A driving layup by Hazzard through traffic put UCI up 6-2 at 16:27
>A 6-0 run by the 49ers put LBSU up 10-8 with 13:12 on the clock
>A Leonard fast break layup was followed by a Hazzard layup along the baseline at 11:04 (13-10)
>Another six in a row, the last a dunk by Mason Riggins gave Long Beach State a 16-13 lead at 9:36
>Following a LBSU three, Leonard would drain a three-pointer and get fouled and make a free throw to even the score at 19 all (6:45)
>A layup plus free throw and a three-pointer by Bryan Alberts moved LBSU in front 25-19 at 5:54
>Jones would hit a hook shot at 2:49 then UCI would manage just a free throw by Cartwright (2:35) and
JC Butler (0.40) for the rest of the half
>Long Beach State would hold the 33-27 lead at the break
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SECOND HALF
>Rutherford would go up strong, score and get fouled to bring UCI within 36-32 at 17:45
>The Beach held a 40-34 advantage before two free throws by
Collin Welp was followed by a jumper by Cartwright to draw within two 40-38 at 15:04
>Another Alberts jumper kept LBSU ahead by six (46-40) before the Anteaters went on an 11-0 run. The spurt was started by the big men with baskets by Galloway (12:04) and Rutherford (11:19) then a layup by Cartwright would knot the score at 46-46 with 10:39 to play
>A pair of free throws and a layup by Cartwright plus a layup by Hazzard put UCI back in front 54-51 at 7:15. A hook from Jones (6:07) and a three-pointer by Leonard would end the streak at 5:25 putting UCI up by eight (59-51)
>A dunk by Galloway from a pass by Leonard (61-57) was followed by a Galloway block on the other end at 2:18
>A driving baseline reverse layup by Cartwright at 1:28 gave the Anteaters a 69-63 lead
>A defensive layup by Galloway on the other end resulted in an offensive board by Galloway and another dunk with 41 seconds left (71-63)
>UCI went on to secure the 75-67 win
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HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER ON TONIGHT'S WIN
"I'm really excited that we were able to win the game tonight and give ourselves a chance to play for a Championship. I'm proud of my team. I would also like to credit Long Beach, they are a difficult match-up for us and they played really well especially in the first half. But our depth wore them down and I am pleased with the poise we showed when we were down and how we were able to come back and tie it and eventually get ahead."
NOTES
>The Anteaters advance to their third-straight Big West Championship game
>UCI is 10-3 when trailing at halftime
>UCI has had two or fewer threes two other times this season
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Jonathan Galloway has played 143 consecutive games
>Leonard has nine consecutive games with a three-pointer
>It's the eighth time Cartwright has posted double-figure points
>Leonard has made 33 straight free throws
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