IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine junior forward Collin Welp finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds to lift UC Irvine over UC San Diego, 80-55, in a non-conference game Friday afternoon at the Bren Events Center.

UCI improves to 13-8 on the season while UCSD falls to 5-9 overall.

Welp's 29 points came on 14-of-17 shooting overall in 23 minutes on the court. He also added four steals.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Brad Greene finished in double-digits with 12 points while Austin Johnson added 10. Greene added two blocks and five rebounds
> DJ Davis dished out four assists
> UCI shot 59.7 percent (37-62) from the field and held the Tritons to just 33.3 percent shooting overall (20-6). Both teams struggled from the three-point line as UCI went 1-19 (.11) and UCSD made 9-32 (.281)
> The Anteaters won the rebound battle, 39-32, and dominated the paint, 60-22. UCI also held advantages in fast break points, 13-5, and points off of turnovers, 19-3
> The Tritons' Hugh Baxter led the way with 11 points

FIRST HALF
> UCI got off to a sluggish start, allowing the Tritons to go up, 15-5, with 13:50 remaining
> The Anteaters used a 24-5 run over the last 10:05 to erase their deficit take a 10 point lead, 36-26, at the half
> A layup followed by a slam dunk from Johnson tied the game, 24-24, at 5:35. The 'Eaters continued their 12-0 run with four points each from Dawson Baker and Welp to make it, 34-24
> UCSD would hit a jumper with under a minute to play but Welp answered with a jumper of his own as time expired on the clock to give the 'Eaters a 10-0 advantage

SECOND HALF
> UCI continued its impressive run into the second half, scoring eight-straight as part of a 30-7 run, to take 42-26 lead with 18:19 remaining
> Back-to-back layups from Greene started an 8-0 run for the 'Eaters to put them up, 58-38, with 8:59 to play
> UCI used an 11-0 run over more than four minutes long to put the game away and extend its lead, 69-42, with four minutes to play
> Dean Keeler scored five points down the stretch to give UCI the 80-55 victory

QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I was impressed with how we played tonight, we played really well. I was impressed with our big men, Collin, Brad, AJ, Emmanuel, Hunter and Dean. That's the way I expected our big guys to play and I thought we showed a lot of improvement. I also thought JC was impressive with his post passing and getting the ball to our big men. We showed some learning and growth in this game. We have a big challenge tomorrow to come back and do it again."

QUOTE FROM COLLIN WELP
"I was just trying to play my game tonight. I am trying to focus on my defensive play and concentrating on that and that also helps my offense and helps me have a solid game."

Notes: Collin Welp becomes 25^th Anteater to reach 500 career rebounds … Welp also reached 1,000 career points last weekend … UCI is 9-1 this season when holding opponents to 60 points or less … The Anteaters are 9-1 at the Bren this season

UP NEXT
> UCI will play game two against UCSD tomorrow at 4 p.m. on ESPN3