LOS ANGELES — Redshirt senior Justin Hohn wreaked havoc on the nationally ranked Trojans defense in his career night to lead UC Irvine to victory over No. 16/20 USC, 70-60.

Hohn poured in 25 points on 10-16 shooting from the floor and 3-6 from three-point distance.

The Anteaters earned their first ranked win over USC in program history and first overall win against the Trojans since the 61-54 effort on Dec. 20, 2012 in Los Angeles.

Head coach Russell Turner notched his third career ranked win, the second over a PAC-12 team in the month of November.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Center Bent Leuchten posted 19 points in the victory
• Fifth year Pierre Crockrell II and redshirt junior Devin Tillis each scored eight points
• Graduate student Dylan Thoerner reached the 1,000-point career milestone with his six points
• Tillis recorded his second consecutive double figure rebounding game with 10 grabs off the glass
• Crockrell II dished out six assists in the win, improving to 2-1 on the season when dishing out five or more assists in a game
• Freshman Derin Saran dished out four assists
• The Anteaters outscored the Trojans in the paint, 24-18
• UC Irvine held No. 16/20 USC to a 0.288 (17-59) shooting clip from the floor and 0.190 (4-19) from three-point range
• No. 16/20 USC was led by freshman Isaiah Collier, recording 23 points where he made 11 of his 13 shots from the free throw line

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I am proud. We came in here with the belief that we could do it and we did it. I am just super happy for everybody at UC Irvine to play against USC. It is a game people pay attention to and notice if we win it. These guys on my team just did it. We did that. We had some special performances from a lot of individuals, a lot of grit, and confidence that we didn't have. We played at a high level tonight and I am really pleased with the guys."

"I thought we dictated the whole game defensively. I wanted to get through the first half without using our dominant one and we did despite some tough foul trouble. We opened the second half very dominantly and made it hard for them."

"He (Justin Hohn) rose the moment and I am not surprised at all when Justin does that and our team has seen it. He has the ability to get hot and play with extraordinary confidence and we saw him do just that tonight. I am really pleased with how he played to his strengths and was able to keep control."

FROM JUSTIN HOHN
"Coach (Turner) always preaches about setting our tone and imposing our will early in the game for 40 minutes for longer and no matter who is on the schedule, we need to stick to our X's and O's. We knew it was going to be a high level game, so the margin for error is very small. We trusted our game plan and the process and we got it done. Tonight meant a lot to me, my family, and the program."

FIRST HALF – UCI 29, NO. 16/20 USC 26
> Both squads only saw one scorer in the first four minutes of the game with USC's Isaiah Collier and UCI's Justin Hohn exchanging points as the Trojans led, 6-4
> Bent Leuchten made a pair of free throws to tie the game 6-6 at 14:40 before Dylan Thoerner brought the Anteaters back to a deadlocked 9-9 with his three-pointer at 14:15. Leuchten hit a triple right after to give UCI their first lead of the game, 12-11 (12:31)
> After some cat and mouse chasing, Devin Tillis brought down the offensive rebound at 4:49 and served a beautiful pass to Pierre Crockrell II who crashed the basket to bring the 'Eaters within one, 20-19
> Hohn drove to the basket, drawing both the goal tending and and-1 call with 3:48 remaining and gave UCI the lead back with his mid-range jumper, 23-22 (3:12)
> Crockrell II, with a bit of help from the friendly rim (2:39) and a forceful effort to get to the basket at 1:05, would keep the Anteaters ahead at the half, 29-26

SECOND HALF – UCI 70, NO. USC 60
> A 7-0 Anteater run that saw two free throw makes from Leuchten and five points from Hohn forced No. 16/20 to call a timeout at 18:32 as UCI led by ten, 36-26
> The Trojans came out of the regroup to score a three from Harrison Hornery and a pair of free throws from Collier, 36-31 (17:52)
> Tillis backed down his man (16:52) and made a shot from the line off the technical free throw, 41-33
> No. 16/20 USC went on a 8-2 run to close in within two points before Langston Redfield made a crucial shot block to prevent the tying basket at 13:39. Thoerner nailed a triple in front of the Anteater bench to extend UCI's lead, 47-41 (12:47)
> UCI extended their lead back out to ten again with Hohn's third three-ball of the night at 6:42 before the Trojans worked to claw back to a four-point deficit twice, the latest at 4:37 before the media break, 59-55
> Horney's free throws brought No. 16/20 USC back into the game, 61-60, but it was not enough as they sent Tillis to the line to knock down a pair of free throws and then allowed him to call game with 37 seconds left on the clock as his wide open three-pointer fell, 66-60. Hohn and Andre Henry made their way to line to close out the win, 70-60.

UP NEXT
The Anteaters will take on Occidental at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17 inside the Bren Events Center.