DAVIS, Calif. – Bent Leuchten's career high 31 point showing drove the Anteaters offensive momentum to ultimately defeat UC Davis (7-7, 0-2), 88-83.

The center shot 12-15 (0.750) from the field, 2-3 (0.667) behind the arc, and a near perfect 5-6 (0.833) at the line.

UC Irvine improves to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in the conference with both wins on the road.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Leuchten also set career bests in field goals made (12), field goal attempts (15), three-point field goals made (2), and free throws made (5)
>Dawson Baker posted 18 points on 6-12 shooting, 2-3 from range
>Forward Devin Tillis led the Anteaters in boards for the second game in a row bringing down seven
>Guard DJ Davis rounded out the double-figure UCI scores with 14 points, where he shot 4-10 on floor and a perfect 4-4 at the stripe
>Guard Pierre Crockrell II dished out a game best seven assists along with four points
>Crockrell II led the team in steals with two
>UC Davis was led by Elijah Pepper who recorded 27 points on 9-18 shooting, five rebounds, and seven assists
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I am really proud of Bent tonight. His family was just in town and I hope they got to follow the game on the plane because Bent is getting better and he is going to be a force and a problem in this league for teams that are going to play him with one man. I am really impressed with the way he performed not only on the offensive end, but on the defensive end too. UC Davis plays a super-fast tempo and we were able to wear them out over the course of 40 minutes. We did not play the last three minutes very well, but we were able to outplay them because we were deeper and made a lot of plays through our roster which is going to be the key to our success in league play."
 
FIRST HALF
>UC Davis would grab the first five points of the half before Bent Leuchten would convert a three-point jumper (17:32) off an Aggie turnover, 3-5
>Pierre Crockrell II took the ball down to the paint for the lay-in at 16:35 and was followed by DJ Davis (15:32) and Dean Keeler (14:36), 9-12
>Ofure Ujadughele threaded the needle, putting the ball between two UC Davis defenders for JC Butler to place it in the basket, 11-12 (14:03)
>The Aggies went on a 5-0 run that was stopped by four consecutive Justin Hohn points, adding tallies to the Anteater column off a shot from beyond the arc (12:24) and a make at the line (11:52), 15-17
>Chazz Hutchison knotted the game at 17 all when he forced his way to the paint at 11:17
>UC Davis's 7-0 run was halted by UCI's own 7-0 run with a three-pointer from Andre Henry (8:26), Leuchten lay-up (7:36), and Davis's make from range (6:33), 26-24
>Dawson Baker would score seven points over a 46 second period to push the Anteater advantage to five, 33-28 (4:00)
>Davis (3:34), Leuchten (2:09, 1:27), and Baker (0:51) all scored in the final few minutes to keep the 'Eaters ahead by seven into the half, 42-35
 
SECOND HALF
>Leuchten took charge in the second period to score six of the Anteaters first 11 points, 53-42 (15:58)
>Baker (19:04) and Crockrell II (16:16) compiled the remaining five UCI tallies in the first four minutes
>UC Davis went on an 11-1 run in the next three and a half minutes to come within one, 54-53 (12:30)
>Devin Tillis's second chance lay-in at 11:31 would help to keep the 'Eaters in the lead for the remainder of the contest, 56-53
>Davis knocked down two shots from the charity stripe followed by Tillis's second extra chance put-in and Keeler's driving lay-up, 62-56 (8:52)
>Leuchten threw up a hook shot at 6:53 and was fouled the following drive, 66-60
>After only making one attempt at the line, the big man Leuchten surpassed his previous career high of 20 points on a jumper in the paint (5:46), 69-60
>Leuchten would continue to score the next seven Anteater baskets to reach 29 points, 76-65 (3:21)
>Back in his three-point element, Davis lobbed one up from deep at 2:49, 79-65
>With 1:09 remaining, Leuchten put one in on a lay-up for his new career best 31 points, 83-67
>The Aggies forced two turnovers and used their tempo to cut their deficit to four with 16 seconds left in the game, 86-82
>Davis remained perfect at the line making both his attempts in the final 11 seconds to help the Anteaters emerge victorious, 88-83
 
NOTES
>UCI has won five consecutive over UC Davis
>Bent Leuchten is the first Anteater to post 30 or more points since Collin Welp put up 30 at UC Riverside on Jan. 8, 2022
>Leuchten has posted new career highs in three straight contests
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in nine consecutive games, 35^th in his career
>UC Irvine won the battle in all of the specialty stats expect for second chance points
>Second consecutive game where the Anteaters have scored 46 points in the second half
>Five Anteaters scored exactly four points

UP NEXT
UCI returns to the Bren Events Center on Saturday Jan. 7 to take on Black and Blue Rival Long Beach State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.