Late Rally Lifts UCI Over Cal Poly, 74-67

Saturday, January 25

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

12-9,4-1Big West

Cal Poly

4-15,1-4Big West

Team	1	2	F
Cal Poly	35	32	67
UC Irvine	38	36	74

Late Rally Lifts UCI Over Cal Poly, 74-67

January 25, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine used a late scoring run to get back in the win column, defeating Cal Poly, 74-67, Saturday night at the Bren Events Center.

With the win, the Anteaters (12-9) improve to 4-1 in Big West play. Cal Poly moves to 1-4 in the Big West and 4-15 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Collin Welp and Evan Leonard led the way for the 'Eaters with 18 points apiece
Eyassu Worku recorded a career-high ten assists, while adding a team-high two steals
The Anteaters were paced at the glass by Brad Greene with eight boards. He also chipped in 12 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting from the field
UC Irvine shot 28-59 (47.5%) from the field, but just 4-20 (20%) from beyond the arc
The 'Eaters won the battle inside, out-rebounding the Mustangs 46-35
Junior Ballard was the leading scorer for Cal Poly, logging 17 points while pulling down five rebounds
The Mustangs hit 9-20 (45%) from three, but just 21-67 (31.3%) overall
Cal Poly was able to score 19 points off UCI's 12 turnovers while the 'Eaters out-scored the Mustangs, 36-20, in the paint

TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF

Buckets from Greene (4 pts) and Leonard (5pts) helped the 'Eaters take an early 9-0 lead at 17:27
Following a Mustangs three-pointer, the Anteaters used a jumper from John Edgar Jr. and a pair of free throws from Leonard to go ahead by ten points, 15-5 (14:46)
Cal Poly quickly got back in the game, hitting four treys as part of a 12-2 run to bring it even, 17-17, with 10:31 remaining
After allowing Cal Poly to jump ahead 24-23, the Anteaters responded with a 6-0 run, including an Edgar Jr. coast-to-coast jumper through traffic, which put the 'Eaters back on top 29-24 at 5:07
The Mustangs battled back to get within a point, 36-35, but Worku threaded a pass inside to Greene for a layup to give the 'Eaters a 38-35 advantage heading into the half
Worku recorded a career-high tying eight assists in the first half alone

SECOND HALF

The teams traded buckets coming out of the break, but the Mustangs converted an and-one off a foul by Greene to tie it at 40 with 18:02 remaining
Following a bucket from Welp, the Mustangs caught fire going on a 9-2 run to take their first lead since early in the first half, 49-45, with 11:51 remaining
Welp would score ten-straight Anteater points to help UCI regain the lead, 55-53, at 6:19
After the Mustangs cut their deficit to one, the 'Eaters used an 8-2 run capped by a three-point play from Welp to build a seven-point lead, 70-63, at 2:05. Artest also contributed five points to the streak
The Anteaters were able to convert at the line in the final two minutes to maintain the lead and secure a 74-67 win

NOTES

UC Irvine wins their fifth straight game against Cal Poly dating back to Jan. 2017
UCI improves to 10-1 on the season when leading at halftime.
Jeron Artest recorded his 11^th three-pointer of his career and ended with five points
Head coach Russell Turner earned the 200th win of his career
Eyassu Worku's 10 assists are the first by an Anteater since Luke Nelson in 2016