IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine had points from 14 different players in a 75-57 victory over Cal State San Marcos in an exhibition game at the Bren Events Center Friday evening.

Forward Devin Tillis went 5-10 from the floor to lead the Anteaters with 11 points. He was one shy of a double-double, grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Justin Hohn was perfect from the free throw line, 6-6, ending with 10 points
> Hohn also had three rebounds and a steal
> Derin Saran and Hayden Welling each added eight points with six of Saran's points coming in the second half
> Guard Pierre Crockrell II dished out five of the 'Eaters 11 assists
> Center Carter Welling tallied the lone block for UCI in the contest
> UCI beat the Cougars on the glass, grabbing 47-33, including a 35-24 advantage on the defensive end
> The Anteaters shot at a 0.593 clip from the floor in the first half (16-27) and 0.458 for the game (27-59)
> 16 players saw the court for the Anteaters
> Charlie Henderosn led Cal State San Marcos with 14 points, knocking down a game-best four threes
> The Cougars ended the contest with eight buckets from long range

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I don't think it was easy for us to come in and compete at a high level. We played 16 guys tonight and that is also not easy to do. We are a group that can be effective."

"I thought Hayden with his physicality and energy was effective with a couple of great offensive rebound buckets that he can give us. It's great to have Langston out there and I trust him out there as a competitor. In my mind he is a proven player even though he redshirted last year. Derin had a good second half and we know his talent is there." 

FROM DEVIN TILLIS
"Coming in this year I knew I had to be one of the guys to set the tone for the younger players and how we do things around here. I think the biggest thing we learned tonight was creating energy. When we have energy, we're good. When we're on the floor and grabbing rebounds and we play big, we're really good."

FIRST HALF – UCI 44, CSUSM 27
>Dylan Thoerner stepped on to the court and knocked down a three to give UCI a 15-10 lead at 14:08
>A pair of free throws by Justin Hohn (8:01) and a driving layup by Akiva McBirney-Griffin (7:36) put the Anteaters up 26-21
>San Marcos kept it close until UCI exploded on a 14-0 run that included two free throws by Ben Egbo (4:49), a pull up baseline jumper by Derin Saran (3:56),  a steal at one end and a layup at the other by Ofure Ujadughele (3:37), a layup by Langston Redfield (3:05), Hayden Welling jumper (2:20), Carter Weling spinning layup (2:06) and two free throws by Hohn (1:20), 40-21
>The Anteaters ended the half with the final four points, a step-back jumper by Hohn (:36) and a layup by H. Welling at the buzzer, 44-27
>15 of the Cougars 27 points came from behind the three-point arc

SECOND HALF – UCI 75, CSUSM 57
>The Anteaters started the half on a 6-2 run to open a 50-29 lead
>A 7-3 spurt by the Cougars made it 55-41 before UCI respond with a 8-1 run of their own started by a Derin Saran three-pointer at 10:26 and ended by a Pierre Crockrell II jumper at 8:42, 63-42
>Back-to-back jumpers by Andre Henry (4:02) and H. Welling (3:31) expanded the lead to 20 (71-51)

UP NEXT
UCI opens the season at San Jose State Tuesday (Nov. 7) at 7:00 p.m. at the Credit Union Event Center.