NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – UC Irvine remains unbeaten in conference play after defeating CSUN (3-14, 0-6) 71-57 in a Saturday afternoon matinee.
 
Forward JC Butler scored a season high 10 points in the win on perfect 4-4 shooting from the field and made his one three-point attempt.
 
UC Irvine improves to 12-5, 5-0 in conference play. The Anteaters are the first team to reach five Big West victories.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Butler added one make from the line and grabbed a rebound in 16 minutes of action
>Dawson Baker contributed 11 points on 5-9 shooting with on three-pointer
>Forward Devin Tillis put up his second consecutive double-digit scoring performance with 10 points
>Tillis went 3-8 from the field, including 2-4 from long distance and 2-2 from the line
>Guard Pierre Crockrell II led all players with eight assists and chipped two steals
>Crockrell II scored his 600^th career point on his made free throw in the first half, recording seven total in the contest
>Justin Hohn led all players with three steals, happening all in the first period
>CSUN was led by De'Sean Allen-Eikens, recording 14 points on 3-5 shooting from the field including one three-pointer and going 7-10 from the stripe
>40 of UCI's 71 points came from the paint
>The Anteaters scored 19 points off of 13 Matador turnovers 
 
FIRST HALF
>Devin Tillis nailed a three-pointer from the top of the arc at 19:41 before Tillis earned the steal that led into a Dawson Baker lay-in at 19:20 forcing CSUN to burn a timeout, 5-0
>DJ Davis was all over the Matador player, forcing a turnover that resulted in another trey from Tillis (18:48), 8-0
>CSUN would put their first four points on the board after taking two trips to the line, 8-4 (17:54)
>Pierre Crockrell II was fouled on his way up to the basket scoring his 600^th career point on his make at the stripe (17:00), 9-4
>The 'Eaters stole the ball twice, allowing Justin Hohn to dish to Davis for his floating jumper (15:10) and Ofure Ujadughele to drive for the lay-up (14:55) after his takeaway, 13-7
>A 5-0 Matador run was halted by Ujadughele's two makes from the free throw line, 15-12 (12:42)
>JC Butler knocked down a two-point jump shot outside the paint (10:46) on the pass from Hohn, 17-13
>UC Irvine went up by seven at 5:22 on a fast break trey (6:00) and pull up jumper in the paint (5:22) from Baker, 26-19
>Hohn completed the three-point play on the free throw make on his way up to drop the lay-in (4:05), 29-21
>Butler scored his floating jump shot on the second chance opportunity before CSUN closed out the half with a three-pointer, 32-27
  
SECOND HALF
>Similar to the first period, Tillis scored the first Anteater basket to start the action before he found Dean Keeler at 18:22 for the fast break basket, 36-29
>An Ujadughele paint basket (14:40) was sandwiched in between a Matador run that brought them within three, 38-35
>The duo of Andre Henry (4) and Crockrell II (2) would string together six points over 1:12 to put the Anteater's up by 12, 49-37 (10:36)
>After a Matador three, UCI used a three-pointer (9:40) and made free throw from Butler (9:00) and a fast break layup by Henry to keep the 15-point advantage, 55-40
>On a hot streak, Henry went a perfect 4-4 from the field in the stanza after his made layup at 7:27 before Dean Keeler's second fast break bucket at 6:56 would put the 'Eaters up by their largest margin of 16, 59-43
>CSUN went on a 7-0 run to bring their deficit back down to single digits, trailing by nine with 5:35 left in the game, 59-59
>A 6-0 run by UCI was halted by a second chance Matador lay-in at 2:53, 65-52
>Tillis recorded his second career and consecutive double-double with 10 ticks remaining, draining two free throws, 71-55
>A late foul by the 'Eaters would send CSUN to the line to shoot two with four seconds on the clock to close out the game, 71-57  
 
NOTES
>UCI improves to 10-2 when leading at the half
>UC Irvine's 0.680 clip (17-25) from the field in the second half is the highest shooting clip in a game all season
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 12 consecutive games, 16 in the season, and 38^th in his career
>Tillis notched his second double-digit rebounding game with 11 boards, second consecutive double-double
>Five wins is the longest win streak of the season for UC Irvine
>The Anteaters have shot over a 0.500 clip in four of the last five contests
>The last time UCI started 5-0 in conference play was the 2016-17 season where the Anteaters opened league play with a 6-0 start
>Three of UCI's conference wins have been on the road
>Both the UC Irvine men's and women's programs continue to remain unbeaten in league play, the only school to do so in the Big West this season
>All available 13 Anteaters saw action on the floor
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine returns home for a top-seeded battle as the 'Eaters take on UC Santa Barbara inside the Bren Events Center on Monday Jan. 16 for a 6 p.m. tip.