IRVINE, Calif. – A Homecoming crowd of 4,862 was treated to an 83-64 UC Irvine victory over UC Riverside Saturday at the Bren Events Center. 
 
The Anteaters, who improve to 17-8 overall and 10-3 in the Big West, shot 56.7 percent (34-60) from the floor, including going 6-11 from beyond the arc (54.5). The Highlanders ended the game shooting 35.8 percent (19-53) and drop to 16-10 on the year and 9-5 in league play. 
 
Guard Dawson Baker tied his season-high with 23 points, one shy of his career-best. The junior went 9-14 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. He also had a team-best five rebounds to go with an assist, steal and block. 
 
Guard DJ Davis followed with 18 points, knocking down 6-11 from the field, including 4-5 from long distance. He went 2-3 from the line and grabbed three rebounds.  
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Pierre Crockrell II set a career-high with 11 assists and added six points
>Bent Leuchten recorded 10 points, hitting 4-5 from the floor with four rebounds
>Justin Hohn went 5-9 from the floor for 10 points, also swiping two steals
>Akiva McBirney-Griffin went a perfect 2-2 from the floor while notching a career best two steals
>UCI had 19 assists and eight steals, scoring 16 points fast break points
>UC Riverside out-rebounded the Anteaters 37-32
>UCR's Lachlan Olbrich had 22 points, recording 7-15 from the floor and 6-9 from the line 
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"We were ready to have a forty-minute win and it is not easy to do. The guys earned it tonight. I thought there was a different level of focus by a lot tonight compared to Thursday."
 
"I thought Pierre's performance was just tone setting and dominant tonight. It was because of the defensive strength he showed on Pullin that he (Pullin) couldn't get them (UC Riverside) going offensively. Pierre wasn't the only guy responsible for that, but our centers did a good job too."
 
FIRST HALF
>Guard Pierre Crockrell had two layups (18:05 & 17:47) and an assist on a basket by Devin Tillis to give UCI an early 8-7 lead (16:26)
>DJ Davis followed with a three-pointer up top at 15:53, 11-7
>Following a Highlander three-pointer (15:35), Davis hit a leaning jumper, 13-10 (15:20)
>Ofure Ujadughele stole the ball and raced up the court to find JC Butler in the right corner for a three at 14:01, 16-12
>Baker and Crockrell II had a give-and-go layup (10:25) then Baker dropped in a high-arching one hander at 9:54, 22-14
>Akiva McBirney-Griffin fought for a tie up under the UCR hoop then took a behind the back pass from Crockrell II for a lay-in, 24-19 (7:47)
>Baker grabbed a rebound and fed Crockrell II who hurled the ball over half court to find Davis who stepped back for a three in the right corner at 7:22, 27-19  
>Justin Hohn would pick a Highlander pocket and Crockrell II would return the ball to Hohn for a driving layup at 6:56, 29-19
>Following a UC Riverside layup, Hohn would have a 10-foot jumper at 6:06 and another jumper in the paint at 4:45, 33-21
>Bent Leuchten grabbed a defensive rebound then used his length to tip back an offensive rebound for a basket forcing a UCR timeout, 37-24 (1:34)
>Lachhlan Olbrich knocked down a three-pointer for the Highlanders before a disappointed crowd watched Leuchten pass up a three-point opportunity and went to the basket where he was fouled with 0.9 on the clock. He made the second of two shots to send the Anteaters to the locker room with a 38-27 lead at the half
>UCI shot a season-best 58.6 percent (17-29) from the floor in the first half 
 
SECOND HALF
>UC Riverside started the scoring in the second half before UCI peeled off seven in a row on a Leuchten layup (19:25), Davis three-pointer (19:00) and a Baker layup (18:36), 45-29
>Baker recorded a basket high off the glass at 16:56 then a fall away jumper at 16:09, 52-34
>Davis would continue the 6-0 run with a pair of free throws at 15:50, 54-34
>Jumpers by Hohn and Crockrell II sandwiched a Highlander three-pointer, 58-39 (14:16)
> Ujadughele spun down the lane (11:50) to start a 8-0 spurt by UCI that included a Baker jumper (11:14) followed by Davis burying a deep three (10:50) and two Baker free throws (10:00), 69-44
>Baker swished a trey from the right side at 6:44 and had a pair of free throws at 5:56, 77-50
>UC Riverside would out-score UCI 14-6 to end the contest, 83-64. The Anteaters poured in 45 second half points

NOTES
>UC Irvine outnumbered their opponent in four of the five specialty stat categories
>UCI only turned the ball over eight times, a season low, that was last recorded against LMU on Nov. 15
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 20 consecutive games, 24 on the season, and 46 in his career to average 15.1 points a game (16.7 in conference)
>Davis sits 17^th all-time in UC Irvine history with 121 career made three-pointers and is one make away from catching Eyassu Worku (2016-2020) for 16^th with 122
>Davis sets a new streak of 13 consecutive games with a three-point basket and has made at least one in 24 games this season
>The Anteaters improve to 12-1 when Crockrell II dishes out five or more assists
>Leuchten has seven double figure scoring games on the season, four of which have come in league games
>This marks the third straight contest where UCI was out-rebounded their opponent
>It was the fifth time this season the Anteaters have posted 80 or more points over a conference opponent (at UC Davis on 1/5, Long Beach St. on 1/7, CSUN on 1/28, at Long Beach St. on 2/4, and UC Riverside on 2/11)
>It is the tenth time this season UCI has shot over .500 from the field
>The Anteaters are on a four-game winning streak on their home court
 
UP NEXT
UCI will travel to UC Santa Barbara for a showdown of the Big West's top two teams Wednesday (Feb. 15) at the Thunderdome beginning at 7:00 p.m.