IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine earned the series sweep over UC San Diego with a 75-64 win, Saturday afternoon at the Bren Events Center.

UCI improves to 14-8 overall and finishes with a 10-1 record at the Bren Events Center for the 2020-21 season. UCSD falls to 5-10 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Collin Welp finished with a double-double, scoring a team-high 19 points and a team-best 12 rebounds. He went 3-of-6 from long range
> Dawson Baker finished with 18 points on 7-12 shooting from the floor. Baker also dished out three assists and grabbed three steals
> DJ Davis had nine points while Isaiah Lee and Austin Johnson each finished with eight
> UCI shot 47.5 percent (28-59) overall and 50.0 (6-12) from long range. UCSD finished 24-58 (.414) shooting from the floor and 12-33 (.364) from beyond the arc
> The Anteaters held a 42-30 advantage in rebounds, a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the Tritons 22-5 in bench points
> UCSD's Hugh Baxter finished with a game-high 28 points

FIRST HALF
> Lee hit back-to-back three's to give UCI an 8-4 lead (17:57)
> UCSD responded with a 9-0 run to go up, 13-8, with 11:56 remaining
> The teams exchanged back and forth points as UCI trailed the Tritons, 23-18, with 4:04 to play
> UCSD used a 5-2 run to extend its lead, 28-20
> Welp nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Anteaters in to the locker room trailing 28-23

SECOND HALF
> UCSD hit back-to-back threes to open a 37-26 lead at 17:07
> Trailing 40-28, UCI rallied on an 13-2 run to close to 42-41 at 11:50. The Anteaters scored nine in a row, including four points from Johnson and three from Andre Henry
> Welp hit a three at 6:28 to knot the game, 49-49, and start a 9-2 run for the 'Eaters to five them a 55-51 lead with 4:14 to play
> A Baxter three at 2:28 brought the Tritons within two, 60-58, but Baker scored five-straight points followed by a Davis jumper to give the 'Eaters a 67-58 lead with 1:05 to play
> Baxter would hit another three but it wasn't enough as Lee and Jeron Artest made two free throws each followed by back-to-back dunks from Welp and Greene to seal the 75-64 victory for UCI
> The 'Eaters made 9 of their last 10 shots down the stretch

QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"The story of this game in my mind is the five guys who were on the floor when we changed the momentum and overall energy of the game. I am really excited for those guys, it was AJ, Ofure, DJ, JC and Andre. They were big time for us tonight. Also, it was great to see the performance Dawson had tonight especially in the second half."

Notes: Head coach Russell Turner became fifth all-time in career wins in the Big West after picking up his 223^rd win tonight … Collin Welp finished with his fourth straight double-double, marking his fifth this season and 10^th career … UCI improved to 3-0 against UCSD this season

UP NEXT
> UCI heads to Long Beach State for the final two games of the Big West regular season March 5-6. Tip time is set for 4 p.m.