BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – UC Irvine used a 51-point second half to defeat Cal State Bakersfield on the road, 75-56, to close out an exciting 2023.

The Anteaters shot at a shocking 0.760 clip (19-25) from the floor in the second half, 0.833 (5-6) from three-point range to finish the game 29-49 (0.592).

Pierre Crockrell II recorded his second double double of the season with an impressive 10 points and career best 16 assists. The fifth-year guard also brought down two rebounds to go with two steals.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Redshirt senior Justin Hohn posted 18 points on 6-8 shooting (0.750) with four makes from three-point range
> Junior Bent Leuchten returned to the starting lineup in which he went 6-9 (0.667) from the floor for 15 points
> Freshman Derin Saran rounded out the double digit scoring with his 14 points along with a team best four makes from the free throw line (4-4, 1.000)
> Leuchten led the team off the glass with his eight rebounds followed by redshirt junior Devin Tillis with seven
> Carter Welling came off the bench and denied a shot at the rim, his third straight game doing so
> Once again, UCI dominated the paint battle scoring 40 points to CSUB's 20
> Cal State Bakersfield was led by Kaleb Higgins recording 18 points on 6-17 shooting from the floor with one three-pointer

FIRST HALF
> Both teams started off slow on the scoring side. Dylan Thoerner had a quick dish to Derin Saran for the lay-up to tie the game at 13:58 before Cal State Bakersfield jumped back in front off two technical free throw makes, 8-6 (11:39)
> Bent Leuchten scored at the post (10:17) to halt the Roadrunner's 5-0 run. Andre Henry exchanged baskets with the CSUB offense to keep the game close, but the Roadrunners went on another 5-0 run to stretch the advantage at 6:37, 22-12
> The Anteaters scored five straight with a quick flick off the hands of Henry in the corner for the three-pointer and a run from Saran who received the pass for the lay-up. Both the passes were from Crockrell II, 24-17 (4:15)
> Cal State Bakersfield and UC Irvine exchanged baskets for the remainder of the half which ended with two free throw makes from Saran (1:14) as the Roadrunners headed into the break with the 30-24 lead 

SECOND HALF
> In the opening four minutes of the second half, UC Irvine closed within three points twice with the last at 16:49 when Devin Tillis passed to Crockrell II for the jump shot at the free throw line, 37-34
> After the under 16 timeout, the Anteaters went on a 12-2 run to reclaim their first lead since their 4-2 advantage at 17:12 in the first half. The scoring stretch saw an offensive rebound tip-in (14:50) and free throw (14:22) from Leuchten, a conversion on a three-point play (13:55) from Justin Hohn, two more Anteater makes at the charity stripe (12:38) this time from Carter Welling, and a Saran floater (11:09), 44-41
> The Anteaters held the Roadrunners scoreless over a 5:12 span as UCI scored a total of 13 points after the last CSUB basket at 12:58. Hohn juked out his defender at 8:00 making the triple to increase the 'Eaters lead, 53-41
> Hohn knocked down his fourth triple of the evening in transition (6:52), 56-43
> Leuchten poured in four straight points to help the Anteaters go up 62-49 with 4:15 remaining
> Saran dished to Crockrell II for his tenth point of the game to complete his double double effort at 2:51, 66-51
> Cal State Bakersfield would only score five more points in the contest as UC Irvine ran away with the 75-56 victory

NOTES
> UC Irvine won their sixth straight meeting with Cal State Bakersfield
> UCI recorded their second double figure road win of the season (first at then No. 16/20 USC on Nov. 14)
> Crockrell II was one assist shy (16) of tying the school record of assists in a game (17) set by Raimonds Miglinieks versus UNLV on Feb. 2, 1995
> Crockrell II's assist average increased to 6.6 per game which is 1.6 higher than the next player in the Big West (5.0, Isaiah Moses from UC Riverside)
> The Anteaters have scored 40 or more points in the paint six times this season and in back-to-back games (40 points against both UC Riverside and Cal State Bakersfield)
> UCI shot over a 0.500 clip in the game for the seventh time this year and first since the 43-point victory over South Dakota on Dec. 16

UP NEXT
UCI will play a two game home stand starting with Orange County foe Cal State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday Jan. 4, 2024 inside the Bren.