FRESNO, Calif. – UC Irvine could not make up a first half deficit on a 63-55 loss at Fresno State at the Save Mart Center Saturday. 
 
 INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>DJ Davis finished with 16 points to lead the team for the first time in 2021-22 and fourth time in his career. Davis went a perfect 8-for-8 from the line, his eight made free throws are a team-best this season
>JC Butler added 14 points making 4-of-6 shots including both threes attempted
>Justin Hohn made his first career start adding 10 points, his third game of double-digit this season. He and Davis each had three assists to lead the team
>Bulldog Orlando Robinson was held to seven points after leading the team to this point averaging 19.3 points per game
>FSU's Jemari Baker Jr. led all players with 18 points in 27 minutes of action
>The Anteaters turned the ball over a season-high 21 times leading to 26 Fresno State points
>UCI snaps a five game winning streak and goes to 5-2 overall, while Fresno State improves to 8-2.
 
FIRST HALF
>Collin Welp had the first basket of the game at 19:41 then Fresno State scored six unanswered to lead 6-2 (17:03)
>JC Butler made a jumper and was fouled to get within 5-6 at 16:00
>A jumper by Justin Hohn (15:16) was followed by an Andre Henry free throw pulling the Anteaters to 8-9 with 13:23 to go in the half
>The Bulldogs scored eight straight to open a 17-8 advantage at 11:23
>A three-pointer by DJ Davis and a basket underneath by Emmanuel Tshimanga cut the deficit to 13-17 (10:32)
>Fresno State would lead by seven before Butler had a free throw and a three-pointer and Welp made a soft shot off the glass at 4:53 to close to 19-20
>The Bulldogs answered with six more (26-19) before Welp knocked down a pair of free throws at 3:05, 26-21
>Neither team would score again to close out the half, 26-21 

SECOND HALF
>FSU started with the first five points of the half until UCI caught fire, going on an 8-2 run on a Hohn three up top (15:53), Tshimanga turnaround layup (15:04), Butler free throw (14:28) and a jumper by Davis (13:42), 29-33
>Collin Welp pulled down his fourth rebound of the game with 17:24 left in the half to pass his coach, Michael Wilder, for 16th on the Anteater all-time rebounding list
>The Bulldogs answered with the next 10 points, 43-29 with 10:17 remaining
>After a Butler layup at 9:48, UCI would get in to the bonus early and take advantage, hitting six free throws, two each by Johnson, Welp and Davis, 37-45 (8:20)
>Davis would hit four more free throws the last at 3:54, 45-50
>After a Bulldog free throw, Butler would drain a three-pointer from the right corner to narrow the FSU lead to 51-48 with 3:17 to go
>The teams would trade three-pointers and Fresno State would follow with another at 2:04 and a layup down the lane to hold a 59-51 advantage with 40.9 to play
>The Bulldogs made four free-throws down the stretch to finish with 63 points, one point under the most allowed by the 'Eaters this season

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID 
"I thought we fought and I thought it resembled the game at Santa Clara, but we weren't able to make the defensive stops in this game that would have given us a chance. I don't think we played as well as we can offensively, if we are going to beat teams like Fresno State. I thought JC Butler was outstanding. That might have been his best game as an Anteater"
  
NOTES
>The Bulldogs are 6-0 at home this season; this is its first home win by single digits
>UCI, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in scoring defense allowed more than 60 points for just the third time this season 
>Collin Welp finished with six rebounds, passing Wilder for 16th in UCI rebounding history, and stands one away from 600 in his career
>UCI made a season-high 19 free throws connecting on 82.6% of shots from the line
>UCI has had multiple players finish in double figures in every game this season and are 2-1 when three players score 10 or more

UP NEXT
UCI travels to Los Angeles to face USC at the Galen Center Wednesday (Dec. 15). Tip is set for 6:00 p.m.