HENDERSON, Nev. – A second half offensive surge from the Anteaters pushed them ahead of Rice, 83-68, in the final game of the Ball Dawgs Classic.

Redshirt senior Justin Hohn led the scoring for UC Irvine with his 18 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor, five makes from the free throw line, and a career best nine rebounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Derin Saran totaled 16 points for his fifth double digit scoring game of the season
> Saran's seven field goals matches his career best that he set versus Pepperdine
> Devin Tillis, Dean Keeler, and Dylan Thoerner each added eight points
> Keeler led the rebounding effort for UCI with nine and blocked two shots
> Thoerner drained two three-pointers
> Ofure Ujadughele dished out a team best four assists while grabbing five rebounds
> The Anteaters shot 62.1 percent (18-29) from the floor in the second half for their fifth game shooting over 0.517
> UCI has won six straight, the third longest win streak in the country
> Rice was led by Travis Evee with 17 points on 6-16 shooting from the floor

FIRST HALF
> After Rice held a two-point lead after the first minute of the game, UC Irvine jumped in front with a three-pointer from Justin Hohn (18:43) and easy lay-up for Devin Tillis (18:03) off the Owls turnover, 5-4
> The Owls got hot and went on a 7-0 run before the Anteaters could add to their total for the first time in four minutes, 13-11 (14:06)
> Dylan Thoerner drained a triple from the right corner at 11:37 to help push UCI ahead, 18-17
> After the Owls jumped in front of the 'Eaters before Derin Saran tied the game at 23-all (23-23) with his steal turned into a layup with 6:43 on the clock. The game was knotted four more times heading into the half tied 31-31.  

SECOND HALF
> Both sides exchanged scoring runs, but some hard-fought offense from the Anteaters gave them the 43-40 advantage going into the under 16 media break
> UCI went on an 8-0 run over a 3:30 span that saw buckets from Dean Keeler, Tillis, Justin Hohn, and Saran, 45-40 (13:02)
> Forward Ofure Ujadughele tipped the ball away from the opponent, sprinted down the court where he fell to the ground to help keep the possession, dished to the sprinting Hohn for the layup at 7:30, 62-54
> Henry drove to the hoop, drawing the block where he converted on the and-1 opportunity, 69-56 (4:58)
> As the UCI lead increased, Ujadughele served a beauty of a pass as he spun past a defender in the paint to fake for the dish to Langston Redfield for the three ball at 4:16, 72-58
> Free throws kept the Anteaters ahead for the remainder of the game, knocking down seven from the line in the remaining 90 seconds, 83-68

UP NEXT
The Anteaters will travel to the East Coast for non-conference competition against Duquesne on Wednesday Nov. 29 with tip off scheduled for 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET).