IRVINE, Calif. -- The UC Irvine backcourt was impressive in a 77-68 victory over Hawaii (14-5, 5-2) at the Bren Events Center Thursday. 
 
Guard DJ Davis led all players with 18 points hitting a three-pointer and a perfect 5-5 night from the line. 
 
Guard Dawson Baker had his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The junior was 7-11 from the floor and 3-3 from the stripe. Seven of his boards were defensive caroms. He also had two steals. 
 
Pierre Crockrell II orchestrated the game from the point, scoring eight points on 4-4 shooting from the floor and dishing three assists.   
 
Another highlight was forward Akiva McBirney-Griffin's career-night 11 points. He hit 4-7 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. He grabbed five rebounds and recorded an assist, a steal and a block.  
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Davis's 14 shots were the most taken by any player in the contest
>Guard Justin Hohn added nine points and five rebounds
>Forward Devin Tillis had six points and five rebounds 
>UCI's first half 35-27 lead was the difference as each team scored 41 points in the second
>The Anteaters out-scored Hawaii 44-24 in the paint and had 14 second chance points 
>While UCI threes weren't falling (3-19), the Anteaters still shot 49.2 (29-59) from the floor and 15-19 (78.9%) from the free throw line
>Hawaii shot at a 41.1% clip from the field and were 15-20 from the line (75.0)
>UH was led by Kamaka Hipa's 17 points and 10 rebounds 
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"We are excited to get a win over a quality opponent like Hawai'I and I thought that we controlled that game as they are not an easy team to beat wire-to-wire like we did. I thought our defensive effort and intensity was improved from the UC Santa Barbara. I thought our offensive commitment to getting to the paint was outstanding."
 
"Really impressed with his (Akiva McBirney-Griffin's) performance and happy for him. This is what he has been waiting for. I always say that guys need to be ready when their name is called and he was thrusted into a difficult spot. He has a bright future and needs to keep getting better."
 
FIRST HALF 
>UCI exploded on a 10-0 run that included a Dawson Baker jumper (16:17), Devin Tillis reverse layup (15:37), Pierre Crockrell II driving layup (15:14), Akiva McBirney-Griffin lay-in (14:43) and Andre Henry fall-away at the elbow (13:45), 12-2
>After holding the Rainbow Warriors without a field goal in four minutes, Hawaii responded with the next five, 12-7 (11:51)
>In another Anteater run, DJ Davis got into the action with a pull up jumper (9:57), a Tillis three-pointer (9:05), Crockrell II hit a floater (8:28) and Baker scoring on a trailing rebound lay-in at 8:00, 21-7
>Three treys in an 11-5 spurt by UH reduced UCI's lead to eight with 4:06 to play, 26-18
>Justin Hohn got hot, scoring on a reverse layup (3:52) and a jumper as the shot clock ran down (2:40), 30-18
>McBirney-Griffin had two athletic plays that resulted in a layup and three free throws to give UCI a 35-22 advantage with 1:03 to play
>Hawaii would score the final five points of the half, the last a three-pointer with two ticks on the clock, 35-27
>UCI shot .484 (15-31) from the floor, while Hawaii was 9-26 (0.346). Four of UH's baskets were from deep
 
SECOND HALF
>Hawaii came out of the break on 7-2 run to close within three at 17:00, 37-34
>Davis knocked down back-to-back baskets (16:31, 15:54), Hohn nailed a three-pointer from the left side (14:53) and JC Butler got on the board with a jumper (14:18) on a 9-2 spurt to stretch the Anteater advantage, 46-36
>A layup and free throw by Dean Keeler, a Baker driving layup and a Davis floater extended the lead to 55-42 at 7:26
>A three-pointer at the top of the arc from Davis at 5:13 and two made shots from the line put UCI up 64-51
>Off of Baker's defensive rebound, Crockrell II was able to dish to McBirney-Griffin who was heading to the basket, 66-52 (3:15)
>After Baker was aggressive defensively coming down with a rebound, Davis had a great move to the hoop scoring and getting fouled, 70-56 at 2:14
>The last eight points of the half for the 'Eaters were all from free throws
 
NOTES
>Hawai'i has not won at the Bren Events Center since Feb. 15, 2018 where they defeated UCI 62-61
>UC Irvine is one of three Big West teams who have only lost one game in league play
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 14 consecutive games, 18 on the season, and 40 in his career and is averaging 14.4 points a game (16.1 in conference). He has notched four 17-point scoring efforts this season, second consecutive.
>The guard Baker hit a season high three assists, two steals, and seven made field goals
>Crockrell II tied his season high eight points in the contest, scoring six of them in the first half
>Redshirt freshman McBirney-Griffin posted his first double figure game of his career
>Davis (5-5), Baker (3-3), Hohn (2-2), and Keeler (1-1) all were perfect at the charity stripe
>Both UCI and UH made 15 shots at the line
>UC Irvine outscored Hawai'i in all specialty stats, the Anteaters second consecutive game doing so
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will take a week off before making the trip to cross county rival Cal State Fullerton on Thursday Jan. 26 for their final regular season match-up. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.