RIVERSIDE, Calif.– In his second consecutive 20-point performance, DJ Davis led the Anteaters to a 75-65 victory over UC Riverside on Thursday evening.
 
Davis poured in 26 points on 8-12 from the floor, including 3-6 from three-point range and 7-8 from the line. The guard also had two rebounds and two steals in the contest.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Center Bent Leuchten exploded for 15 points on 6-10 shooting
>Dean Keeler went a perfect 5-5 from the field for 10 points
>Guard Dawson Baker rounded out the double-digit scorers with a 10 point effort
>Ofure Ujadughele was an offensive and defensive weapon, dishing out a team best four assists while grabbing six rebounds (five off the defensive glass)
>Guard Pierre Crockrell II brought down a career high eight boards
>UC Irvine had six steals to UC Riverside's four
>The Anteaters shot at a 0.417 clip (5-12) from three-point range, their second consecutive game over 0.400
>UC Riverside was led by Flynn Cameron, recording 26 points on 8-16 shooting, 5-13 from distance, and 5-6 from the line
 
FIRST HALF
>Bent Leuchten scored the first seven points of the contest with two easy layups (18:48, 18:14) and a three-pointer at the top of the key at 17:18 off the pass from Dawson Baker
>DJ Davis added to the Anteater run with his lay-in (16:42), 9-0
>UC Riverside would close the offensive gap to four after scoring all their points on triples, 16-12 (10:11)
>The Highlander's Flynn Cameron scored the next five points to give UCR their first lead of the night at 9:00, 16-17
>Dean Keeler lifted UC Irvine ahead by three points after scoring on back-to-back possessions, 20-17 (8:09)
>The two squads would answer each other's baskets, exchanging the lead until Chazz Hutchison found Akiva McBirney-Griffin (5:10) under the basket to put UCI up by three, 31-28
>With 0.04 seconds left on the clock, Baker drove to the basket to extend the lead to five and was fouled on the way up where he completed the three-point play, 36-30
>UC Riverside chucked the ball across half court on the inbounds pass, but it was intercepted by Davis to end the half 
 
SECOND HALF
>UCR's Jamal Hartwell II opened the second stanza with a floating jumper (19:26) and fast break three-pointers (18:13), 37-35
>The Anteaters kept finding big man Leuchten in the paint, hooking one in at 17:24 and pushing up through the Highlander defense at 16:26, 43-39
>Davis started a 9-2 run for the 'Eaters on his mid-range floater (15:21) and Justin Hohn capped the streak on a second chance jump shot (12:29), 52-41
>Zyon Pullin would bring the UC Riverside deficit back down to single digits at 11:53 when he scored on a fast break lay-up before JC Butler completed the three-point play on UCI's next possession with his and-1 make from the line (11:38), 55-44
>Off the defensive board, Ofure Ujadughele took it coast-to-coast on the fast break, 57-44 (11:14)
>UCR's 8-0 spurt was halted by Keeler's shot from the block at 6:14 off the dish from Ujadughele, 59-55
>The duo of Ujadughele and Keeler teamed up again at 5:16 with Keeler delivering the exclamatory dunk, 63-58
>Baker's turnaround jumper (3:24) and Davis's nailed triple (2:42) along with two makes from the line (2:05) would catapult the 'Eaters to a 70-58 lead
>Flynn Cameron drew the foul on his three-point shot, but only made two of his three attempts from the charity stripe, 70-60 (1:50)
>Davis visited the line two more times (1:43, 0:55), knocking down all four shots, 74-60
>Cameron had three free throws for UCR at 0:22 for the final points of the night, but it was not enough as UC Irvine prevailed, 75-65
 
NOTES
>UC Irvine is tied for first place in the Big West with UC Santa Barbara
>UCI shot over 0.500 from the field in both contests against UC Riverside this season
>Both Anteater victories over the Highlanders were by double-figures
>Baker has recorded double-digit points in 26 consecutive games, 30 on the season, and 52 in his career to average 15.6 points a game (17.1 in conference)
>Baker is now 35 points away from reaching the 1,000-career point milestone
>Davis now sits 12^th all-time in UC Irvine history with 138 career made three-pointers. He needs four more makes to catch Scott Brooks (1985-87) and Travis Souza (2011-15) for 11^th with 142 triples.
>Davis has made at least one three-pointer in his 30 games played this season, averaging 2.6 a game
>Davis has posted seven 20-point efforts this season
 
UP NEXT
UCI will close out the Big West regular season slate against CSU Bakersfield inside the Bren Events Center on Saturday March 4th. The Anteaters will honor JC Butler in a senior day ceremony prior to the game.