HENDERSON, Nev. – The fourth-seeded UC Irvine men's basketball team dropped a 78-69 decision to No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 Hercules Tires Big West Championships Presented by the Hawaiian Islands Thursday afternoon at The Dollar Loan Center.
 
It was a tightly-contested affair with neither team leading by more than eight until the Gauchos used a 12-3 run early in the second half to go up by double digits.

Although UCSB (17-10) stayed out front and took a 15-point advantage with 6:41 remaining, the Anteaters (15-10) never quit. They fought back to within four with just under a minute to play, but time was not on their side and UC Santa Barbara hit its free throws to hang on for the victory.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> For the second-straight game, DJ Davis led UC Irvine with a game-high tying 21 points.
> Davis went 7-for-11 from the field, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and 3-for-3 at the charity stripe.
> Collin Welp added 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half, and eight rebounds.
> Dawson Baker also finished with 16 points.
> UCI shot 42.2% from the field, but had a tough time slowing down the Gauchos who closed out the game with a 50.9% clip.
> UCSB was also 7-for-12 from deep, and held a 36-29 advantage on the boards.
> Amadou Sow led Santa Barbara with 21 points and 16 rebounds.

FIRST HALF
> It was a seesaw battle in the first half with five lead changes and three tie scores.
> UC Santa Barbara went up 7-4, but UC Irvine would pull even at 8-8 following an Ofure Ujadughele layup at the 15:04 mark.
> The Anteaters eventually took their first lead since the opening possession on a Davis 3-pointer with 10:36 remaining.
> The Gauchos went back on top 20 seconds later and proceeded to go on a 6-0 run for an 18-13 advantage.
> Welp ended the rally with an and-one, but UCSB then took its largest lead of the half at 23-16.
> UCI had an answer once again with a 13-6 spurt knotting it up at 29-all with 1:01 to go.
> Davis provided the spark with 11 of his 14 first-half points during that stretch.
> UC Santa Barbara would get the final bucket, holding a narrow 31-29 edge at the break.

SECOND HALF
> Baker kept UC Irvine close early in the second with the team's first six points of the half.
> His triple brought the Anteaters within one, but UCSB responded with a 12-3 run to go up, 45-35.
> Davis cut the deficit to seven with a traditional three-point play at the 14:42 mark.
> The 'Eaters were unable to get the stops they needed over the next couple minutes as the Gauchos pulled ahead, 53-40, with 12:17 remaining.
> UCI then picked up the defensive intensity which led to a 9-2 rally that ended with a Baker layup to make it 55-49 with 9:35 to play.
> UC Santa Barbara made one more big push, scoring nine unanswered to go on top, 64-59.
> UC Irvine kept battling, closing the gap to four with 57.5 seconds on the clock.
> That was the closest the Anteaters would get as the Gauchos sank their FTs down the stretch to hold on for the win.

UCI HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID
"I want to say congratulations first to Santa Barbara, they played at a great level today. They deserved to win with their performance. For us, it's tough to drop this game in the tournament, knowing the stakes we're playing for in this league. Our guys played hard. I'm especially proud of the fight we showed down late to continue to give ourselves a chance. There was belief in our team that we could be champions in this league. I thought that showed in our performance but it wasn't good enough because of the performance of Santa Barbara. In high-stake competitive athletics, that's sometimes what happens. We know that and we'll use the adversity and feelings we're experiencing now as fuel to be better."
 
"I'm particularly proud of Collin Welp, our fifth-year senior captain. For five years he committed to UC Irvine basketball and our university. I'm proud of the way he's represented us all along the way, becoming not just one of the best players in program history, but an outstanding leader. He's the tone-setter for our team with his competitiveness and confidence, and is a captain that pushed this group as hard as he could."

NOTES
> DJ Davis had his second-straight 20-point scoring performance.
> He also had back-to-back games with four threes, and shot 62% (8-13) from beyond the arc in those two outings.
> Collin Welp had his 75th career double-figure scoring game.
> Welp increased his career totals to 1,490 points and 715 rebounds.
> Austin Johnson had three blocked shots, marking his 19th game this season with multiple blocks.