FULLERTON, Calif. – UC Irvine dropped a Big West Conference game to Cal State Fullerton by a narrow score of 67-64, Saturday night at Titan Gym.

The Anteaters now sit at 8-4 in the Big West and 12-8 on the season. CSUF moves to 5-7 in conference and 6-7 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Collin Welp finished with a game-high 21 points, also reaching 1,000 points in his career. He shot 8-15 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. He grabbed his second double-double in a row ending the night with 12 boards. He added two blocks, two steals and an assist to him impressive night
> Brad Greene also finished with a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Greene notched a career-high nine blocks
> Isaiah Lee had a team-best three assists to go along with seven points and four rebounds
> UCI shot 38.1 percent (24-63) from the field and held the Titans to 35.9 percent (23-64) shooting overall
> The 'Eaters held a 46-38 rebounding advantage and outscored the Titans 14-2 on fast break points. CSUF got 11 points off of 13 UCI turnovers and outscored the Anteater bench 24-15
> The Titans' Tray Maddox Jr. led his team with 15 points

FIRST HALF
> Welp scored the first six points of the game, picking up his 1000^th career point and giving the 'Eaters a 6-0 lead with 16:56 remaining
> A dunk from Welp gave the 'Eaters an 11-6 lead with 14:40 remaining before the Titans used a 7-2 run to knot the game, 13-13, at 11:54
> The teams exchanged back and forth points, tying three more times, as a jumper from DJ Davis gave UCI a 21-19 edge with just under four minutes remaining (3:58)
> A layup from Dean Keeler followed by a three from Lee contributed to a 7-0 run for the 'Eaters to give them a 28-23 lead with 2:29 to play
> A dunk from CSF's Vincent Lee with one minute remaining cut the UCI lead to one, 30-29, at the half

SECOND HALF
>  A pull up jump shot from Dawson Baker started a 7-0 run for the Anteaters as the visitors would go up, 44-33, with 15:28 remaining
> The Titans used a 14-4 run to knot the game, 48-48, with 11:14 to play
> UCI would tie the game twice more but would not gain another advantage the rest of the half. A Greene layup at 7:31 knotted the game, 54-54
> CSUF hit back-to-back three's to go up by six, 60-54 (6:02)
> Two pairs of made free throws from Welp and Greene, respectively, brought the 'Eaters within one, 65-64 with 1:05 remaining
> CSUF would make two free throws before UCI would call a timeout with :08 left. Baker and Welp both had a chance at three to tie the game but both balls rattled out as the Titans walked away with the narrow, 67-64, victory

QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I'm disappointed as the leader of the team that I couldn't get my guys to a better level then what we played at tonight and ultimately that is my responsibility to reach these guys so that we can perform better than we were able to tonight. I give Cal State Fullerton credit, they were in a better emotional place to compete consistently and they made a lot of plays that we were not able to make. I think we have to go through some pain like this in order to reach the goals we set out to achieve this year."

COLLIN WELP ON 1,000 CAREER POINTS
"It's a great accomplishment and feeling. All the credit goes to my teammates and coaches for having confidence in me and leaving it up to me to perform."

UP NEXT
> UCI returns home for its final series at the Bren this season to host UC San Diego Feb. 26-27. Tip time is set for 4 p.m.

Notes: Collin Welp became the 31^st Anteater to reach 1,000 career points … Welp picked up his fourth double-double of the season and ninth in his career … Greene got his fourth double-double of the season and 14^th of his career … UCI snapped a seven game winning streak against CSUF