IRVINE, Calif. – Living up to the hype of a great game with 11 lead changes, UC Irvine was edged 73-65 by UC Santa Barbara (14-3, 5-1) at the Bren Events Center Monday night. 
 
UCI drops its first Big West contest (5-1) and goes to 12-6 overall.
 
Forward Dean Keeler had a career-night, going 6-8 from the floor and 1-1 from the line for 13 points with five rebounds. 
 
Guard Dawson Baker led the Anteaters with 17 points, hitting 6-13 from the floor and 3-7 from long range. He also added five rebounds and two assists. 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>DJ Davis rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points in close to 30 minutes of play, draining two three-pointers
>Forward Devin Tillis continues to lead UCI in rebounding, grabbing a team high nine off the glass
>Guard Andre Henry led the team with four assists while adding two rebounds and a steal on his perfect 1-1 shooting from the floor
>Forward Akiva McBirney-Griffin contributed four points (2-5) and two rebounds in 13 minutes on the floor
>Ofure Ujadughele notched the 'Eaters lone block of the contest, tying his career best
>UC Santa Barbara took advantage of UCI missing some of its front court players, getting a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds from Andre Kelly and 16 points and game-best 12 rebounds from Miles Norris down low
>The Gauchos shot 55.8 % (29-52), the highest mark against the Anteaters this season
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"Both teams came in highly motivated knowing what was at stake and I give (UC) Santa Barbara credit for playing well tonight. What I told the team is that I need to be better in terms of what I am demanding from our guys and their defensive intensity. We were good enough offensively to win tonight, but we just didn't defend very well."
 
FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine was able to force the turnover in the first Gaucho possession and then quickly run it down the court for Dawson Baker to take it to the hoop, 2-0 (19:07)
> UC Santa Barbara would go up 4-2 at 18:13, but Baker hit a trey at 16:53 to reclaim the Anteater advantage, 5-4
>After holding off a UCSB defender, Baker dished to Akiva McBirney-Griffin for the lay-in at 16:04, 7-4
>DJ Davis found a ball that came down from a missed shot between three UCSB players and laid it back up (13:04) before Justin Hohn had a streaking layup at 12:42 to move ahead 11-6
>Andre Henry drove around the arc for a layup (10:49), 13-10
>The Gauchos would score four in a row to regain the lead at 9:09 , 14-13
>The lead was short lived as great passing by Pierre Crockrell II and Andre Henry fed McBirney-Griffin heading to the basket (8:38), 15-14
>Baker would then knock down a three-pointer on the right wing, 18-14 (8:12)
>UCSB went on an 8-2 run to 24-22 lead at 3:42 before Dean Keeler scored on a pick and roll (3:25) and a steal and score by Ofure Ujadughele (3:01) gave UCI the 26-24 advantage
>Tillis powered back up off the rebound (2:23) and Keeler ran the floor for a bucket (1:56) to counter five points by UCSB baskets, 30-29
>UCI held the Gauchos scoreless for the final two minutes of the half, while Keeler would score on the give-and-go from Davis for the final points, 32-29
>There were eight lead changes in the first 20 minutes
  
SECOND HALF
>After UCSB scored the opening basket, Crockrell II had back-to-back baskets (18:48, 18:16) to give the Anteaters the 36-31 edge
>UC Santa Barbara then went on a 7-0 run to lead 38-36 into the under-16 media break, 16:01
>Keeler extinguished the 'Eaters scoring drought with his shot in the paint and Hohn would net it at 40 all with his drive up to the basket (12:55)
>In an exchange of points, Keeler would net his 10^th of the contest at 12:04 on the second chance
opportunity for UCI
>Tillis's floater of a Gaucho turnover at 10:54 would tie the game again before Baker nailed his third trey of the evening to put the Anteaters up by one, 47-46 (10:21)
>The Gauchos would erase the deficit, but once again found themselves in a standstill with 8:41 remaining as Hohn drained UCI's second consecutive three-pointer, 50-50
>Keeler's three-point play on the driving lay-in and made free throw halted UCSB's 7-0 run, 53-57 (6:52)
>A three by UCSB's Cole Anderson gave the Gauchos a 60-55 advantage, but the Anteaters responded with a three-pointer by Davis (5:39) and a jumper by Baker (4:39) to knot the game at 60 all
>A three-pointer followed by one of two free throws helped UCSB regain control 64-60 at 2:44
>A pair of Davis free throws preceded a layup by Ajay Mitchell and two free throws by Miles Norris
>Davis let a three-pointer from the right wing fly to keep UCI within a possession, 65-68 (1:09)
>Norris hit a shot just inside the arc with the shot clock running down that used the back of the rim and rolled in, 71-65 (0:34)
>Norris would close out the scoring with a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left for the Gaucho win, 73-65 
 
NOTES
>The last time UC Santa Barbara won inside the Bren Events Center was Jan. 30, 2016
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 13 consecutive games, 17 on the season, and 39 in his career
>The guard Baker hit a season high three trey's along with tying his career best seven three-point attempts. He first set his career high against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 28, 2020
>Tillis has led the team off the board in the last three contests and is averaging 6.3 a game
>Keeler posted a career high 13-points, but also set new bests in field goals made (6) and field goals attempted (8)
>McBirney-Griffin reached a new milestone in field goal attempts with five in the contest
>This was the first time Henry has led the team in assists this season, dishing out four
>Baker (2-2), Davis (2-2), and Keeler (1-1) all were perfect at the charity stripe
>UC Irvine outscored UCSB in all specialty stats
 
UP NEXT
UCI continues their home stand on Thursday Jan. 19 for a 7 p.m. tilt against Hawai'i.