IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine defense shut down the Pepperdine Waves in an 82-48 win, Saturday night at the Bren Events Center.

UCI (3-1) held its third-consecutive opponent to under 60 points as Pepperdine (2-3) shot just 33.3 percent (18-54) from the field overall and 23.1 percent (3-13) from long range.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Dawson Baker finished with a game and season-high 19 points on 6-10 shooting from the floor. He tied a career-high four three's, hitting four of five from long range
> Collin Welp had a season-best 18 points on 6-15 shooting overall. Welp also dished out four assists and had two steals
> Austin Johnson grabbed seven rebounds and had two blocks. He also finished with nine points
> UCI shot 50 percent (32-64) overall from the floor and 8-17 (.471) from behind the arc
> The Anteaters held advantages in paint points, 40-24, bench points, 30-16, and points off turnovers, 21-5
> UCI out-rebounded the Waves, 40-32
> Pepperdine was led by Keith Fisher III with 13 points

First Half
> Baker hit a three and made two free throws as he had five points as the Anteaters took a 9-8 lead at the first media timeout (15:46)
> A Baker three started a 5-2 run for UCI that put the 'Eaters up by four, 14-10, with 13:10 remaining
> UCI went on an 10-0 run fueled by a driving layup from DJ Davis (10:37) to take a 24-12 lead with 8:53 to play
> Ofure Ujadughele made a layup followed by a Justin Hohn three-pointer as UCI took a 34-19 lead with 2:55 to play
> Pepperdine would go on a 5-2 run down the stretch as UCI took a 36-24 lead into the intermission

Second Half
> Welp made a layup followed by a three-pointer to give the 'Eaters a 15-point, 45-30, lead with 17:36 to play
> UCI used a 13-2 run to break open the lead, 62-39, with 8:57 to play. Bent Leuchten scored six-straight points in that stretch while Hohn hit a three-pointer
>  A Welp three-pointer followed by a Hohn fast break layup and a made free throw from Baker put the 'Eaters up, 71-42, with 5:51 remaining
> UCI went on an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the night, 82-46, with 1:16 remaining as Ujadughele made a driving layup to seal the 82-46 win for the Anteaters

Quote from head coach Russell Turner
"We controlled this game defensively, and that is what we planned to do and then we went out and did it so I feel good about that. I still feel like there is a lot of places we can improve and we are going to continue to focus on getting this team to compete at the highest level. I think we have good depth and the guys that come off the bench play hard and they fight for minutes."

Notes: UCI snaps a five-game losing streak to the Waves … UCI is 100-22 at the Bren Events Center over the last nine seasons including 3-0 this season… The Anteaters have won three-consecutive games … UCI is 14-1 over the last two seasons when holding opponents to 60 points or less

UP NEXT
> UCI will travel to Santa Clara Saturday, Nov. 27 for a game set to tip at 4:30 p.m.