IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine out-scored Cal State Fullerton (9-8, 3-2) 33-18 in the final 8:56 of the game to erase a 10-point deficit and go on to a 70-65 victory over the Titans at the Bren Events Center Wednesday. 
 
Guard Dawson Baker scored 15 of his 17 points in the final UCI run to keep the Anteaters perfect in Big West action, 4-0 and 11-5 overall.  
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Baker's 17 points came on 5-14 shooting from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line. He had two three's
>DJ Davis was 5-13 from the floor with a three-pointer and perfect from the line (5-5)
>Guard Justin Hohn came off the bench to record 15 points.
>Hohn went 5-8 from the field, including 3-5 from long distance and 2-2 from the line
>Devin Tillis recorded UCI's first double-double of the season with 10 points on 5-7 shooting and a game and career-high 12 rebounds
>Akiva McBirney-Griffin earned his first career start and brought down three rebounds to go along with one block
>CSUF was led by Tory San Antonio's 17 points, hitting a game-high four three-pointers
>UCI out-rebounded the Titans 36-32 and had 30 points in the paint compared to CSUF's 26
>The Anteaters scored 16 points off of 18 Titan turnovers 
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"We responded on our home floor with some toughness, grit, rebounding, really good zone defense, and we made some shots. We have had games before this year where shots didn't go in and it effected our energy where we didn't fight as hard as it felt like we fought tonight. So, I am pleased with the improvement and excited about the win. It feels great to get it done and I am happy with several of the performances from our guys tonight because we could not have won without them stepping up."
 
FIRST HALF
>DJ Davis scored UCI's first four points as both teams struggled to get going early
>At the first media timeout (14:53), the Titans led 7-4 after shooting 3-8 from the floor, while UCI was 2-7
>Dean Keeler scored from the left baseline (13:37) before Justin Hohn knocked down a three-pointer to give UCI its first lead of the game, 11-10 at 12:52
>After a rebound, Andre Henry headed up the court and found Devin Tillis going to the hoop. Tillis made the layup (9:15) and was fouled on his way up to the basket, 13-12
>After Henry's trip to the line, CSUF's Vincent Lee had two baskets to put the Titans in front 16-13 at 8:42
>Ofure Ujadughele would dish to Chazz Hutchinson underneath (5:28) before Davis would find a loose ball on the Titan end and drive in for a layup with five minutes to play, 19-18
>After a Fullerton bucket, Hohn had a layup (4:09) followed by a pair of Davis free throws (3:40), 23-20
>The Titans would score three straight to tie the game at 23-23 (2:48)
>Pierre Crockrell II pulled up for a jumper (2:03) and Dawson Baker had a layup (1:40) to move UCI back in front, 27-23
>A pair of CSF free throws would close out the half, 27-25
  
SECOND HALF
>CSUF would score the first five points of the half to take a 30-27 lead at 17:25
>Tillis would battle for a rebound put-back at 16:58 then Davis sliced down the lane for a layup at 15:22, 31-30
>Hohn would hit a three-pointer (13:21) only to watch Cal State Fullerton hit two of their own to start a 10-2 run and lead 44-36 (9:35)
>After another Titan three, UCI used a three-pointer by Dawson Baker (8:37), a layup by Tillis (7:54), a Hohn pull up jumper (7:11) and a driving layup by Baker with a free throw to close within 47-49 at 6:23
>There were three consecutive three-pointers, two by the Titans, before the Anteaters exploded on a Baker step back (4:41), an Akiva McBirney-Griffin layup (4:09), a Tillis power layup (3:25) and a free throw by Davis to give UCI a 57-55 advantage
>After a CSUF layup, Hohn (2:51) and Davis (2:12) drained three-pointers to extend the margin to 63-57  
>Two Baker free throws (1:19) were sandwiched between two Titan baskets, 65-61
>Hohn was fouled and hit two from the stripe with 19.7 seconds to go, 67-61
>Tory San Antonio hit a long three-pointer to keep the Titans alive with 11 seconds remaining, 67-64
>Dean Keeler was fouled and made the second of two, 68-64 with 10 ticks left
>San Antonio went to the line after being fouled on a rebound and made just one (:03) before Baker was fouled and made both to end the game, 69-65  
 
NOTES
>UC Irvine snapped a three-game losing streak against Cal State Fullerton
>UCI improves to 9-2 when leading at the half
>For the 12^th time this season, Davis has reached double-figure points, fourth consecutive
>Davis improves his consecutive made free throw streak to 11, has a season high of 18 straight made from the stripe
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 11 consecutive games, 37^th in his career
>Tillis set a new career best in rebounds (12) to complete the double-double (10 pts.). The last time an Anteater had a double-double was Collin Welp versus Hawaii on Feb. 19, 2022
>The Anteaters have not won more than three games in a row this season until tonight's victory
>The last time UCI started 4-0 in conference play was the 2016-17 season where the Anteaters opened league play with a 6-0 start
>Both the UC Irvine men's and women's programs continue to remain unbeaten in league play
 
UP NEXT
The Anteaters will go on the road, traveling to CSUN on Saturday (Jan. 14) for a 1:00 p.m. contest.