VERMILLION, S.D. – Justin Hohn returned to his home state to help UC Irvine (7-3) snap South Dakota's (5-6) three game home winning streak in the 83-71 victory.
Hohn posted 14 points on 6-9 shooting, making two of his four attempts from behind the arc.
The Anteaters shot at a stunning 0.517 clip (30-58) in the contest, hitting 0.552 (16-29) in the second half.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard DJ Davis had a team high 17 points on 4-14 shooting
>Davis shot a perfect 6-6 from the line
>Dawson Baker added 16 points at a 0.750 clip (6-8, 3-4)
>Dean Keeler made his first start of the season, chipping in two points with four rebounds
>Chazz Hutchison led the team in boards with six
>Guard Pierre Crockrell II dished out a game high three assists
>Hutchison, Bent Leuchten, and Ofure Ujadughele all blocked on shot each
>South Dakota was led by Paul Bruns with 20 points on 8-14 shooting from the field, 4-7 from three point range
FIRST HALF
>South Dakota would score first at 19:17 on a three point play, then Justin Hohn would take it down the floor, passing it around the arc and receiving to shoot the floating jumper (19:02) followed by a three-pointer (18:26), 5-3
>The Coyotes would jump ahead twice before Dawson Baker would tie it up at 7-7 at 16:16 before DJ Davis's two made free throws would lock it 9-9 at 15:41
>Davis would then drive down the floor twice, with a lay-up (14:34) and a fading jump shot from behind the arc (13:48), 14-11
>Dean Keeler would help extend the Anteater lead at 11:43 with his jump shot in the paint, 16-11
>On back-to-back plays (9:20, 9:10), Ofure Ujadughele would steal the ball from a Coyote player for five points, 21-14
>South Dakota would go on a 10-2 run to claim the three point advantage, 21-24 (6:42)
>A clutch trey for the Yotes put them up by four at 5:31 and a bucket from range from Davis and a Bent Leuchten free throw would tie it up at 4:31, 29-29
>Baker's jump shot at 0:29 would give UCI the lead into the halftime break, 37-35
SECOND HALF
>The Yotes would hit the first basket of the second stanza, 37-37 (19:21)
>Pierre Crockrell II (18:42) and Leuchten (18:13) would score a combined four points on lay-ins, 41-37
>South Dakota would start to chip away at the deficit, but UCI would pull away by 13 with three three-pointers (Davis, Hohn, and JC Butler) and a Hohn fast break drop in, 53-40 (12:17)
>The Coyotes would come within nine before Devin Tillis (10:36) and Chazz Hutchison (10:26) would make one of their free throw shots, 55-44
>Baker would hit a three-point jumper off a fast break (10:06) and Hohn's fast break attempt from the field (8:54) would keep the Anteaters up by 14, 60-46
>UCI would take their largest lead of the game (22) off Akiva McBirney-Griffin's lay-up off a South Dakota turnover, 77-55 (1:38)
>South Dakota would hit four treys in the final 45 seconds, but the Anteaters prevailed, 83-71
NOTES
>Head Coach Russell Turner's win today moves him to 249 career wins pushing him past the former New Mexico State head coach Neil McCarthy to rank fourth in Big West victory leaders
>UC Irvine has won both contests against South Dakota in program history
>Baker recorded his ninth double figure scoring effort of the season, fifth consecutive
>For the 13th time in his career, Baker led the team in scoring
>Davis has made at least one three-pointer in his last 13 games played, all ten this season
>UCI earns their first win when an opponent shot more field goals than them
>The Anteaters are the first Big West team to win seven games in the non-conference
>For the fifth time this season, all 15 'Eaters saw action on the court
UP NEXT
UCI will continue their road stretch at Santa Clara on Thursday Dec. 15 with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.
