FULLERTON, Calif. – UC Irvine won its 14th-straight Big West road game defeating Cal State Fullerton, 74-61, Wednesday night at Titan Gym.

Head coach Russell Turner picked up his 198^th career victory to become the winningest men's basketball coach in UCI history. He surpassed Pat Douglass' 197 wins and did so in 55 fewer games.

The Anteaters (10-8, 2-0) won their 15^th-straight Big West game a streak that dates back almost a year (Jan. 16).

Tommy Rutherford finished the night with nine points to reach 1,000 on his career (1,001). He becomes the 30^th player in UCI history to achieve the feat and joins classmates Eyassu Worku and Evan Leonard who joined the 1,000 point club earlier this season. It marks the first time in program history that three Anteaters in the same graduating class reached the milestone.

CSF falls to 0-3 in conference and 5-13 on the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Worku and Collin Welp each finished with a game-high 20 points. Both hit the 20-point mark for the second time this season. Worku was 4-8 from long range while Welp shot 6-12 from the floor
> Rutherford tied a career-best 14 rebounds
> Leonard also finished in double-digits with 17 points while Aiden Krause tied a career-best four assists
> UCI drained nine three-pointers going 9-24 (.375) from long range and shot 42.4 percent from the floor
> The 'Eaters held the Titans to just 28.6% shooting form beyond the arc and 38.5% shooting overall from the floor
> UCI's bench outscored CSF 24-6 and the 'Eaters held a 30-36 advantage in points in the paint

First Half
> UCI jumped out to a six-point, 10-4, at 14:40 after Leonard hit back-to-back jumpers
> CSF used a 6-2 run to take its only lead of the frame, 16-15, at 9:29
> The Anteaters answered with a 14-2 run, jumping out to a double-digit lead, 29-18, with 5:25 remaining. Worku and Welp each made a pair of three's in that stretch
> The Titans would bring the game within nine, 31-22 (3:44), but the 'Eaters ended the half on an 8-1 run to take a 39-25 lead into the locker rooms
> Worku and Welp each reached double-figures in the half with 13 and 12 points, respectively
> As a team, UCI shot 54.2 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from long range  

Second Half
> UCI kept up its momentum going up by 16, 53-37, with 12:38 to play
> The Titans cut the lead to 13, 59-46, at 6:37 but UCI responded with a 7-2 run to stretch the game, 66-49 (4:05)
> The Anteaters grabbed their largest lead with under a minute to play, 74-55, after an Austin Johnson made free throw
> CSF scored the final three points of the game as UCI earned a 13-point, 74-61 victory
 
NOTES
> UCI has won 14-straight Big West road contests, a streak that dates back to Jan. 20, 2018 at UC Santa Barbara
> The Anteaters are 2-0 in Big West play for the second year
> UCI opened conference play with back-to-back double digit victories
> With the win, the Anteaters snap a five-game road losing streak

UP NEXT
> UCI hosts UC Riverside in a conference game Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m.