IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine (10-5, 3-0) knocked down 13 three-pointers in a 87-70 Black & Blue Rivalry win over Long Beach State (7-9, 1-3) on Saturday at the Bren Events Center. 
 
The Anteaters, who are ranked fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage, went 13-28 from long range (.464).

For the game, UCI shot 50.7 percent from the floor (35-69), the third consecutive game over a .500 clip.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UCI was led by guard DJ Davis with 20 points, going 7-18 overall and 5-10 from three-point distance
>Pierre Crockrell II had a career-high 10 assists in 26 minutes
>Crockrell II also had a season high bests in steals (3) and blocks (1)
>Guard Dawson Baker notched 16 points in 24 minutes on 7-5 shooting, 2-5 from distance
>Center Bent Leuchten went 5-6 from the floor, including two three-pointers and was a perfect 3-3 from the line to total 15 points
>Forward Devin Tillis pulled down a team-best six rebounds while adding seven points
>Andre Henry came off the bench to record nine points and a season-high seven rebounds
>Forward Chazz Hutchison had six points, hitting 3-3 from the floor in nine minutes of action
>Long Beach State was led by Lassina Traore's game-high 22 points
>The Beach shot 39.7 % from the field (27-68) and were just 2-16 from three-point range, including 0-9 in the second half   
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"It felt like we controlled the game. When shots go in for us like they did tonight, we are going to look a lot different than we sometimes will. Everybody was making shots like that and we are never going to always have nights like that, but it was good to have it at home. Tonight showed me that our buy in is strengthening as a team, so hopefully we can continue to get better."
 
FIRST HALF
>DJ Davis knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner to get the scoring started at 19:16, 3-0
>Davis would knock down his second trey from on top of the arc at 17:25 to give UCI an 8-7 lead
>Another from long distance for Davis (16:05) forced a LBSU timeout, 11-9
>Davis then had a layup and a free throw (13:57) before Andre Henry hit a three-pointer at 13:17
>Following a Long Beach State three-pointer, Chazz Hutchison got into the scoring with a layup (12:37) followed by a three-pointer by Justin Hohn (11:13), 26-16
>Three-pointers by JC Butler (10:48) and Dawson Baker (9:39) continued the Anteaters' hot-shooting from deep, 32-21
>Bent Leuchten wrestled a rebound away from a Long Beach State player and tossed it in to give the Anteaters a 38-25 lead at 5:32
>Hutchison had an alley-oop from a Hohn inbound pass (4:16) before Dean Keeler had a floating jumper at 3:54, 44-30
>Back-to-back baskets by Baker helped the Anteaters to a 48-32 advantage with 41 seconds to play
>Davis launched a deep three with one second on the clock and was fouled. The Beach had only committed four team fouls, so UCI had to inbound the ball under the basket.
>Pierre Crockrell II lofted the ball to Leuchten on the out of bounds play who hit a three-pointer as time expired, 51-34
>In the first 20 minutes, UCI shot .571 from the floor (20-25), hitting eight three-pointers 
 
SECOND HALF
>LBSU would score the first bucket of the half before Davis continued where he left off in the first half, knocking down a three from the left corner at 19:24, 54-36
>Crockrell II threaded a pass through the defense to a streaking Baker for a layup at 17:06, 61-40
>The Beach would go on an 8-2 run to close to 63-48 at 13:25
>Crockrell II blocked a ball on a breakaway that led to Henry flying up the court and dishing to Hutchison for the layup at 12:07, 65-48
>Both teams went cold until Baker hit a fall-away three at 9:10, 68-48
>Following a Leuchten layup from Crockrell II, Devin Tillis pulled up from the trail position and hit a three-pointer up top, 73-50 (7:55)
>Henry would knock down a floater as the shot clock ran down on one end (4:31) then a steal by Leuchten at the other end led to a Davis jumper at 3:57, 82-62
>Long Beach State scored the final six points of the game, 87-70 
 
NOTES
>51 points were the most points scored by the Anteaters in the first half this season
>This is the second consecutive game where the Anteaters have scored over 80 points
>UCI improves to 10-0 when leading with five minutes left in regulation
>It is the fourth time this season, UCI has hit 10 or more three-pointers
>Four shots at the free throw line are the lowest for the 'Eaters this season, but UCI capitalized by making all their attempts
>It is the 11^th time this season Davis has reached double-figure points and the fourth with 20 or more
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 10 consecutive games, 36^th in his career
>Leuchten posts four straight double figure games
>Over the past week of action, the center Leuchten shot 17-21 (0.810) from the field, 4-5 (0.800) from three-point range, and 8-9 (0.889) from the line
>Crockrell II tied his career high 10 assists that was last set in February 2020. The last time an Anteater had 10 assists was Eyassu Worku versus Cal Poly on Jan. 25, 2020
>For the sixth time all season, all 15 'Eaters saw action on the court
>The last time UCI started 3-0 in conference play was the 2020-21 season, earning two wins over Cal Poly and one at Hawaii
>Both the UC Irvine men's and women's programs have started conference play 3-0, the first time ever in school history

UP NEXT
UCI will host cross-county rival Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday (Jan. 11) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.