IRVINE, Calif. - Down 58-49 with 7:49 to play, UC Irvine out-scored UC Santa Barbara 24-11 to emerge with a 73-69 win at the Bren Events Center, Monday afternoon.

UCI sweeps UCSB, 2-0, on back-to-back days to remain the only undefeated team in Big West play. The Anteaters improve to 5-4 on the season. The Gauchos fall to 0-2 in conference and 4-3 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Collin Welp finished with a team-high 16 points on 7-14 shooting overall and a game-high nine rebounds. He also dished out a team-best three assists and had a block
> Dawson Baker and Brad Greene also finished in double-digits with 14 and 10 points, respectively
> DJ Davis and Isaiah Lee each added nine points
> UCI shot 44.4 percent (24-54) overall from the floor and went 7-17 (.412) from long range
> The Anteaters held UCSB to 39.6 percent shooting from the floor overall
> For the second night in a row, UCI dominated the boards, 37-26, and the paint (24-8). The 'Eaters also held a 16-5 advantage in second chance points
> Jaquori McLaughlin led all players with 22 points and five assists

FIRST HALF
>A 9-2 run which included five points from Lee and four from Welp gave the Anteaters a 12-4 lead at 15:20
>UCSB would score seven unanswered to close within 12-11 at 12:02
>A three-pointer by Jeron Artest as the shot clock was running down gave UCI the 17-13 advantage at 8:53
>A 5-2 run by the Gauchos brought UCSB to 18-19 at 7:44
>Justin Hohn had a jumper at the elbow (7:16) then a driving layup (6:27) that started a 9-0 run and put the Anteaters up 30-20 with 4:29 left in the half
>UCI's Greene and UCSB's McLaughlin would swap a pair of free throws to end the scoring, 32-25, as neither squad would score in the final 2:06 

SECOND HALF
>Greene backed down his defender to stop a 7-3 start for UCSB, 37-32 at 16:52
>Jumpers by Welp (16:15) and Baker (15:39) were followed by four Gaucho free throws and a fall-away from Miles Norris to close to 40-41 at 14:20
>Hohn knocked down a three from the left side 44-41 at 13:36
>UCSB would have its first lead at 11:18 on two free throws Amadou Sow, 45-44
>Austin Johnson blocked a ball at the UCSB end then Andre Henry drove to the hoop and was fouled to give UCI the 47-45 lead 10:37
>UCSB quickly regained control on a basket by Norris and a three-pointer and two free throws by Ajare Sanni, 52-47 (9:13)
>Back-to-back three-pointers by Sanni and Norris extended the Gaucho lead, 58-49 (6:41)
>UCI rallied on a basket by Greene and consecutive threes by Baker and Davis, 57-58 with 4:22 to go
>Welp took a bullet pass from Davis through traffic for a layup then had a pump fake and drove down the lane for a layup and was fouled making the extra shot to give the Anteaters the 62-58 lead at 2:44
>UCSB would score the next four to knot the score at 62 before Baker hit a three-pointer from the right corner and Greene had a rebound put-back, 67-62 (1:26)
>Davis hit four free throws bookend around two by UCSB's McLaughlin before a three-pointer by Sanni with 12 seconds remaining, 71-69
>Following a UCSB timeout, Davis was fouled on the inbound and stepped up to the line and drained two more free throws with 10 seconds left, 73-69
>A UCSB  three-point attempt with two seconds on the clock clanked off the rim and was grabbed by Welp to end the game
 
Quote from head coach Russell Turner
"I am proud of this group for the resilience we showed down the stretch in this game. It would have been easy to let go of the rope and it almost felt like we were going to do that but we settled ourselves and went on a defensive run and made some big plays down the stretch. We had a lot of players make big plays on offense and defense and that has been the hallmark of our program. I also have perspective that this is just the first two games of our conference season."
 
Notes: UCI improves to 5-0 at home … UCI wins three-straight against the Gauchos and sweeps the series with them for the first time since 2019 … 16 points ties a season-best for Welp … 'Eaters improve to 2-0 in conference play for the third straight year

UP NEXT
> UCI plays a two-game Big West series at CSUN to start the New Year Jan. 1-2 at 4 p.m. on ESPN3.