IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine took down UC Santa Barbara 69-58 on Homecoming in a sold-out Bren Events Center.

UCI won it's sixth-straight game, the longest win streak of the year, improving to 21-10 on the season and 13-2 in conference play. UCSB falls to 19-10 overall and 8-6 in the Big West. 

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Eyassu Worku led the Anteaters with 20 points, going 8-11 from the floor, including 4-5 from long range. It was the 10^th time this season the guard has topped the squad in scoring
>Center Brad Greene recorded his eighth double-double of the year with 16 points and a game-best 15 rebounds. The junior went 6-10 from the field and 4-4 from the line
>Senior forward Tommy Rutherford also recorded double-digit points with 13
>UC Santa Barbara was led by Robinson Idehen with game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds
>The Anteaters shot 45.6 percent (26-57) from the floor, while UCSB shot 36.8 percent (21-57)
>UCI owned the glass out-rebounding the Gauchos 43-30
>The Anteaters held advantages in fast break points (11-2), points in the paint (32-26) and assists (15-13)

TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF
> After missing their first six shots, John Edgar Jr. got the Anteaters on the board first at 18:01, 2-0
>UCI then stole the ball on the next two possessions with Worku knocking down a three-pointer (17:43) and Rutherford laying it in down low (17:23) to take a 7-0 lead and forcing a UCSB timeout
>Jaquori McLaghlin stopped the Gauchos scoring drought with a trey at 16:41, 7-3
>Worku would hit back-to-back three-pointers, the last at 12:45 to extend the lead to 13-6
>Greene flew in from the weak side to dunk the rebound at 7:22 to increase the margin to 25-12
>Collin Welp would hit basket that rattled on the rim before falling in (4:49) and then a high arcing jumper with a defender in his face at 3:51 to give UCI a 31-16 advantage
>Another rebound put-back by Greene with 34 seconds remaining gave UCI a 35-22 lead at the half

SECOND HALF
>Greene (19:48), Worku (18:45) and Rutherford (16:54) would all hit baskets to start the half before UCSB would record a pair of free throws at 16:28, 41-24
>Evan Leonard would get his first points on a three-pointer from the right side and give UCI its largest lead, 46-26 at 15:26
>A 6-0 run by the Gauchos cut the lead to 49-36 with 11:55 left
>UCSB would drain a three-pointer at 9:16 (55-42) then manage just three free throws until Robinson Idehen recorded a jumper at 4:08, 59-47
>UCSB out-scored UCI 9-3 before the Anteaters scored five of the final seven points for the 69-58 final score

NOTES
>Worku has recorded three or more three-pointers nine times this season and has notched 20 or more points five times this year
>UCI has won 10 straight at home and 14 straight Big West home games
> Over the last eight years, UCI is 100-6 when allowing opponents to score 60 points or less
> 22 is the fewest points allowed by an opponent in the first half this season 
> The 11-point win marks the ninth conference game this season the Anteaters have won by a margin of 10+ points
>The Anteaters are locked in as the No. 1 seed for the Big West Tournament after clinching their second consecutive outright regular season title. UCI will play the 6:00 p.m. game on Thursday, Mar. 12.

UP NEXT
>UCI concludes the regular season hosting CSUN Wednesday (Mar. 4) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center. Seniors Evan Leonard, Eyassu Worku, John Edgar Jr. and Tommy Rutherford will be honored before the game.